Controlling Carry Over

Following the Horsemeat Scandal, the tolerance limit for carry over of species was set at maximum of 1%. When FSA consulted on that level they only asked the large manufacturers who primarily are one species plants.

The operation of a butcher's shop was never considered and most observers would recognise that 1% is a pretty low tolerance level when you are working in a shop with four or more species.

In the opinion of SFMTA the 1% level was set up to fail and results like those recently hitting the media were almost certain to be the outcome, 1% represents just one sausage in a four kilo batch. If mincer barrels and sausage fillers are not totally clear when switching from one species to another then 1% is quite easily exceeded.

There is a difference, however, with deliberate use of another species, usually for financial gain. What is annoying is the small violations of the tolerance limit are lumped together with unintentional carry over and made to look like there is a major fraud going on, which of course there is not. See article on page 3

SFMTA has devised a Recommended Method of Operation (RMOP) in conjunction with the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee and this has been circulated via email and is available to download here.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) commented on the subject in 2017:-

“First of all to clarify that the 1% threshold level is to identify where meat species are most likely to have been deliberately substituted as food fraud. Levels between 0.1% and 1% are considered to signify adventitious contamination indicating inadequate cleaning practice between the processing of different meat species. These limits were derived with large scale approved meat processors in mind, and the research report referred to in your email found that in such establishments, it was considered possible to clean equipment down to <0.1% level. Therefore levels exceeding this would represent poor practice. “It is widely recognised however that applying the 0.1% level is more of a challenge in smaller butchers shops as in depth cleaning procedures would not be feasible following every process, and therefore the results of testing undertaken at these businesses cannot be considered in isolation. “At the moment there is no set threshold/allowance for these situations, but the results of such testing can still be used to demonstrate to butchers the effectiveness of their cleaning procedures and where improvements may be required. Your FBO makes valid comments regarding the various points in the process where cross contamination might be likely to occur, however this does not take away from the need for good practice including cleaning of equipment and surfaces wherever feasible.”

Attachments:

• Recommended_Method_of_Operation_Carry_Over.pdf