Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has published the findings of a national survey of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in raw beef, chicken, and pork meat at retail.

Overall, FSANZ concluded that there is a low risk of bacteria from the sampled retail meats being involved in transmission of bacteria that may become involved in resistant infections or spreading resistance when safe primary production, processing, cooking, and food handling is practiced.

The survey sampled 4,151 raw retail beef, pork, and chicken products collected across the greater metropolitan areas of all Australian capital cities between September 2022 and July 2023. Samples comprised 581 beef, 2,005 chicken, and 1,565 pork meats. The sampling plan adhered to international guidelines, considering factors like sampling frequency, statistical power, sample size, strata selection, and storage/transport procedures.

Samples were tested for the presence of bacterial pathogens, which were then isolated and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Target bacteria included Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Salmonella, and Campylobacter. Isolates were also analyzed for resistance genes using whole genome sequencing (WGS). Murdoch University completed all laboratory testing for AMR and WGS.

Foodborne pathogens were detected in:

• Beef: 65 percent of samples tested positive for E. coli and 72 percent tested positive for Enterococcus; beef was not tested for Salmonella or Campylobacter
• Chicken: 74 percent of samples tested positive for E. coli, 84 percent for Enterococcus, 9 percent for Salmonella, and 62 percent for Campylobacter
• Pork: 62 percent of samples tested positive for E. coli, 77 percent for Enterococcus, and 3 percent for Salmonella; pork was not tested for Campylobacter.

Overall, AMR resistance among foodborne pathogens tested in the survey was low across all meat types. Approximately two-thirds of the bacteria isolated from raw meat samples were not resistant to any of the antibiotics tested. Pork E. coli isolates and chicken Enterococcus isolates showed the highest levels of AMR.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) was also low and mostly involved antibiotics of low importance to human health. MDR was highest in E. coli isolates from pork samples (25 percent).

Interestingly, moderate resistance to ciprofloxacin (a quinolone) was found in Campylobacter jejuni from chicken, despite these antibiotics never being registered for use in Australian food-producing animals—highlighting the unique global challenge of quinolone-resistant Campylobacter.

The survey was undertaken as part of the Australian Government One Health effort in addressing AMR, led by the Australian Center for Disease Control, jointly with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry and in collaboration with other Australian Government portfolios and agencies.

The full report can be accessed here.