In 2018, Safe Food conducted a system verification study of red meat abattoirs in Queensland that supply products exclusively to the domestic market. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Meat Food Safety Scheme as it applies to these abattoirs and to identify opportunities to further improve compliance monitoring strategies and food safety outcomes. We visited 42 abattoirs between April and September 2018 to:
- assess compliance with legislation;
- collect census data on the current state of the industry, food safety controls, monitoring and verification practices; and
- test carcases for microbial contamination with E. coli and aerobes to inform on hygiene management.
Information generated from this work will assist with the continued evaluation of the performance of meat food safety regulation and support Safe Food’s Statement of Strategy 2015-2020.
The following Infographic highlights some of the results of this study.
A full version of the report can be accessed here.
April 18, 2019