Sanitary Carcass Dressing and Food Safety Practices in South Central U.S. Small and Very Small Establishments Manufacturing Fresh and Not-Ready-to-Eat Pork Product

Small and Very Small meat harvest and products processing establishments warrant unique consideration with respect to development and utilization of food safety interventions. While industry best practices have been developed for the sanitary manufacture of beef products, similar practices are lacking for U.S. pork products manu- facturers. To assist development of best practices for Small and Very Small pork slaughter and further pro- cessing establishments, a survey instrument asking for information on establishment and facility characteristics as well as current sanitary practices was distributed to establishments in the Southwest U.S. to gauge current industry practices and identify areas in need for improve- ment for food safety protection. Nineteen facilities re- turned fully or partially completed questionnaires, detail- ing use of antimicrobial interventions on pork carcasses or further processed not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) products, as well as sanitation schedules, selected sanitizers used during facility sanitation, employee hygienic practices, training, handling of raw versus nished product, and the frequencies and organisms (indicators, pathogens) sampled for during routine microbiological sampling programs. Findings from this survey will be useful for the development and dissemination of industry best practices to assist Small and Very Small pork harvest and NRTE products manufacturers.