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Industry – Salmonella food handling and production

Salmonella and food production

Salmonella is a bacterial organism that causes the mild to severe gastro-intestinal disease salmonellosis. The bacteria are found in the gut of warm and cold-blooded animals and are often found on food.

Foods implicated with Salmonella outbreaks include raw meats, poultry, unpasteurised milk and dairy products, seafoods, fresh produce (including sprouts), and foods washed in contaminated water or touched by infected food handlers.

Salmonella is ranked as one of the three most important foodborne pathogens in New Zealand, second only to Campylobacter. That’s why NZFSA has earmarked this disease as one of its key strategic priorities.

NZFSA’s strategic approach to Salmonella control has broad scope. The strategy focuses on non-typhoid Salmonella because it’s fairly common in the environment and can sometimes be found on food. The early stages of the strategy will focus on gathering information from a wide range of food sectors to try and identify the main sources of the disease. This information will provide a sound scientific basis for pinpointing where in the food chain we can take actions to reduce or stop the incidence of Salmonella in food.

Salmonella and Poultry

The poultry meat processing sector is subject to mandatory risk management programmes (RMP) which are designed to control hazards to human health including Salmonella.

Codes of practice and guidelines for the poultry industry

Salmonella and eggs

Most of the egg production and packing sector is required to have a registered risk management programme (RMP) to control hazards to human health, including Salmonella, before trading any eggs.

RMP template for egg producers

National Microbiological Database

The National Microbiological Database (NMD) programme describes the technical procedures for microbiological monitoring of the effects of the slaughter & dressing and cutting & boning processes. There is a performance standard for Salmonella sampling for all products (excluding carcasses) from the following species:

• bovine

• bobby calf

• caprine

• corvine

• ostrich/emu

• poultry

National Microbiological Database - refer schedule 1

NZFSA is proposing to include the porcine industry in the National Microbiological Database (NMD) programme in 2009.

Inclusion of porcine in NMD

Related links

• NZFSA’s Hazard Database

• NZFSA’s Salmonella strategy

• Science reports on Salmonella

• Salmonella information for consumers, chefs and cooks, scientists and researchers, and media

Last updated 6 April 2009