Meat + Poultry - October 2004 - 62

Cooperative compliance
By Keith Nunes
knunes@sosland.com

Processors and suppliers can benefit
from F.S.I.S. Listeria prevention efforts

eff Freirich, president of Freirich Foods, Salisbury,
N.C., didn't really have a choice. One of his largest
customers, a quick-service restaurant chain, required

that his company achieve level 1 within the Food Safety and Inspection Service's Listeria regulations shortly after they were released.
In an effort to comply, Freirich not only achieved level 1 but also improved his operation.
Earlier this year the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Food Safety and
Inspection Service announced a rule requiring federally inspected
plants producing certain ready-to-eat meat and poultry products to
take steps to further reduce the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes.
The rule required all processors producing
R.T.E. products that are exposed to the environment after cooking to develop written programs to control Listeria and to verify the effectiveness of those programs through testing.
The rule also encouraged all establishments to
employ additional and more effective Listeria
control measures.
Plant managers were given three alternatives to control Listeria. The alternatives managers could choose from included alternative
1, which required the employment of both a
post-lethality treatment and a growth inhibitor
for Listeria on R.T.E. products. Alternative 2 required either a post-lethality treatment or a growth inhibitor, and alternative 3 required sanitation measures only. As a carrot to encourage companies to choose
the higher levels, F.S.I.S. made it known that companies achieving
alternative 1 would face less regulatory scrutiny than companies
achieving the other two alternatives.
Freirich Foods was founded 80 years ago in New York, and became known for their quality smoked pork products. They began selling a handful of deli meat products in the 1960s and about 18 years
ago moved the deli meat operations to North Carolina, where the
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MEAT&POULTRY

company processes roast beef, corned beef and pastrami. The company now employs about 100 workers and annual sales are approximately $35 million.
Jeff Freirich is not one to become complacent. His goal is to
continue growing the family owned firm. Faced with the prospect of
achieving level 1 or losing a major customer, Freirich set out to find
an inhibitor and post lethality treatment that fit within the confines
of his operation. After a few weeks of investigation, the company
decided to utilize sodium lactate as the inhibitor and use Unitherm's Infra-Red pasteurizer as its post lethality treatment.
"Reformulating products (to accomodate the sodium lactate process) was almost as challenging as incorporating the post lethality
step," says Freirich. The system provides a quick surface treatment
for pre-cooked products by heating their surfaces to 400°F to 500°F
prior to packaging.
The advantage of the Unitherm machine, says Freirich, is it takes
up less space in his plant. It also is able to quickly heat and allow for
quick cooling of products as soon as it exits the heating tunnel.
Prior to installing the Unitherm machine and
using sodium lactate as an inhibitor, the company had no pasteurization step, instead relying on good food safety practices of its workers. While Freirich recognizes the rationale of
F.S.I.S.'s new regulations, he's also quick to
point out his company has never had to recall
product for food safety reasons.
The Unitherm machine was installed about
18 months ago and resulted in a 2.5-log reduction in pathogens, says Freirich. The cost
of complying with the R.T.E. regulation cost
the company about $150,000. Due to the intense heat produced by the oven, Frierich also invested in air handling equipment to produce the make-up air lost by the step.
Besides helping the company achieve level 1, the additional food
safety hurdles have also resulted in a longer shelf life. Freirich says
this is one way his company is raising the bar for other processors of
R.T.E. meats. And leading the industry in raising standards is always
a good investment.
M&P
We would like to hear from you-
your comments and questions about this article are welcome.
E-mail the author at: knunes@sosland.com

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

OCTOBER 2004

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Meat + Poultry - October 2004

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