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Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Pepperoni Product Recalled After Testing Finds B. cereus Issue

Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., doing business as Margherita Meats, Inc., an Omaha, Neb. establishment, is recalling approximately 10,990 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) pepperoni products that may be adulterated with Bacillus cereus (B. cereus). The problem was discovered when the Department of Defense notified FSIS that they found B. cereus during routine product testing.

This is a bit interesting because one would expect to find some B. cereus in cooked meat products. B. cereus is a sporeformer and can be found in raw meat and probably more so in the spices. As a sporeformer, the spores of this organism would survive the heat processes commonly used for cooked meat products (thus the need for rapid cooling afterwards) and with pepperoni, one would not expect limited growth in the product due to antimicrobial properties (e.g., low Aw, lower pH, chemical preservatives). 

So was the number of organisms high (as determine though enumeration) or was the specification on the product tight with regard to B. cereus (absence/sample).?

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/smithfield-packaged-meats-corp.-dba-margherita-meats-inc.-recalls-pepperoni-products
Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. Dba Margherita Meats Inc. Recalls Pepperoni Products Due To Possible Bacillus Cereus Contamination
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2021 – Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., doing business as Margherita Meats, Inc., an Omaha, Neb. establishment, is recalling approximately 10,990 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) pepperoni products that may be adulterated with Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The RTE unsliced pepperoni product was produced and packaged on June 17, 2021. The following products are subject to recall [view label]:

8-oz. plastic shrink-wrapped packages containing unsliced pepperoni “Margherita PEPPERONI” with lot code P1931C and a “use by date” of 12-14-21 represented on the label.
The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 19” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.

The problem was discovered when the Department of Defense notified FSIS that they found B. cereus during routine product testing.

B. cereus is a toxin-producing microorganism that causes diarrhea and vomiting in people. Those with compromised immune systems are at risk for more severe illness. Vigorous rehydration and other supportive care including antibiotics are the usual treatment.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ pantries or refrigerators. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

Media with questions regarding the recall can contact Jim Monroe, Corporate Affairs, Margherita Meats Corp., at (703) 559-1875. Consumers should call the Margherita Consumer Affairs Hotline at (844) 342-2596.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.




RESEARCH ARTICLE| APRIL 01 1988

Occurrence of Bacillus cereus in Meat Products, Raw Meat and Meat Product Additives

HIROTA KONUMA; KUNIHIRO SHINAGAWA; MASAKAZU TOKUMARU; YOUICHI ONOUE; SUMIO KONNO; NORIO FUJINO; TAMOTSU SHIGEHISA; HIROSHI KURATA; YOSHIHIRO KUWABARA; CARLOS A. M. LOPES

J Food Prot (1988) 51 (4): 324–326.

https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-51.4.32

One thousand nine hundred and sixty three samples of meat products, raw meat and meat product additives from different slaughterhouses, meat processing factories and retail meat shops in six prefectures of Japan, were examined for the presence and number of Bacillus cereus. Although B. cereus was found in meat products (18.3%) and raw meat (6.6%), the contamination levels were generally lower than 102 per gram. In contrast, meat product additives showed contamination levels ranging from 102 to 104/g with the highest values (104/g) in samples of spices and animal proteins. On the basis of these results, we suggest that the main source of B. cereus contamination in meat products is contaminated meat product additives.




Thermal inactivation of Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens vegetative cells and spores in pork luncheon roll

Author links open overlay panelB.ByrneG.DunneD.J.Bolton

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2006.02.002Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim of this study was to design a thermal treatment(s) for pork luncheon roll, which would destroy Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens vegetative cells and spores. B. cereus and C. perfringens vegetative and spore cocktails were used to inoculate luncheon meat. Samples were subjected to different temperatures and removal times. The decimal-reduction times (D-values) were calculated by linear regression analysis (D=−1/slope of a plot of log surviving cells versus time). The log10 of the resulting D-values were plotted against their corresponding temperatures to calculate (−1/slope of the curve) the thermal resistance (z-values) of each cocktail. The D-values for vegetative cells ranged from 1 min (60 °C) to 33.2 min (50 °C) for B. cereus and from 0.9 min (65 °C) to 16.3 min (55 °C) for C. perfringens. The D-values for B. cereus spores ranged from 2.0 min (95 °C) to 32.1 min (85 °C) and from 2.2 min (100 °C) to 34.2 min (90 °C) for C. perfringens. The z-values were calculated to be 6.6 and 8.5 °C for B. cereus vegetative and spores, respectively, and 7.8 and 8.4 °C for C. perfringens vegetative cells and spores, respectively.




The D-values of B. cereus and C. perfringens suggest that a mild cook of 70 °C for 12 s and 1.3 min would achieve a 6 log reduction of B. cereus and C. perfringens vegetative cells, respectively. The equivalent reduction of B. cereus and C. perfringens spores would require the pork luncheon meat to be heated for 36 s at 105 and 110 °C, respectively. The results of this study provide the thermal inactivation data necessary to design a cooking protocol for pork luncheon roll that would inactivate B. cereus and C. perfringens vegetative cells and spores. The data may also be used in future risk assessment studies

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