A systematic quantification of foodborne hazards in abnormal and normal tis
sues of pig carcases was undertaken to provide a risk-based assessment of t
he effectiveness of traditional organoleptic meat inspection. A total of 36
,059 pigs, representing all major pig-producing areas and systems in Austra
lia, were inspected on a seasonal basis at three abattoirs over 12 months.
The prevalence of grossly detectable abnormalities of possible food-borne d
isease significance was recorded. A subset of the grossly detectable abnorm
alities, together with tissues classified by inspection as normal (controls
) were submitted for the detection of a broad range of food-borne hazards.
The potential exposure of consumers to hazards in fresh pork was characteri
sed as the number of carcases per 10,000 containing hazards in selected tis
sues. The results indicated that the level of exposure of consumers to micr
obiological hazards in fresh pork is unlikely to be reduced significantly b
y the detection and removal of gross abnormalities in the tissues examined.
On the basis of carcase throughput, the rate of contamination of normal ly
mph nodes was commonly 100 times higher, and no hazards were isolated from
two types of grossly abnormal nodes. While further processing, cooking and
handling may alter the exposure characterisation, the study nevertheless id
entifies the proportional contribution of abnormal and normal tissues to ri
sks to consumers and clearly identifies the need for consideration of 'visu
al only' inspection in the re-evaluation of traditional inspection procedur
es.