USDA-FSIS Finds Appendix B Guidance for Cooling to Control Clostridium perfringens is Adequate, Will Not Revise
Based on the results of a recent Clostridium perfringens Market Basket Study, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has concluded that the guidance currently being used for the cooling of large-mass, non-intact ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products is adequate and does not merit revision.
FSIS commissioned the Market Basket Study through Federal Emergency Response Network (FERN) laboratories in response to comments on the 2017 Stabilization Guideline for Meat and Poultry Products (Revised Appendix B) indicating that large-mass non-intact products could not be cooled quickly enough to meet recommended cooling options. For example, cooling from 120 °F to 80 °F in less than 1.5 hours or from 130 °F to 80 °F in less than 1.5 hours during the first stage of cooling. Such cooling options were designed to meet FSIS’ regulatory performance standards of no more than 1 log10 outgrowth of C. perfringens in meat and poultry products during cooling, which were developed using baseline data and are supported with newer data demonstrating that 3-4 log10 level of C. perfringens could occur in raw products. Subsequently, a 2 log10 safety margin was added, which is the level at which C. perfringens spores could germinate and grow greater than 1 log10 and approach illness-causing levels of contamination.