Let me emphasize that I am not trying to convert anybody from rail beef to box beef. I am sharing what I know from working all my adult life in the trade. For those out there that are using rail beef you can limit the exposure of a potential Ecoli outbreak.
1) As you receive you fronts and hinds do a simple Q.A. test especially on the hind quarters. Get yourself a small powerful flashlight and start at the shank and move around the hind checking for any black specks. If you find any simply shave it off the exterior fat. No, this isn't bacteria because you need a powerful microscope to see them critters. The specks could be one of two things, either rail-dust (extremely small specks of metal) or they could be fecal. So to be safe remove them. Just to take a little more caution make sure you dip your knife in a sanitizer every time you remove a speck. The packers have hot bubbling water they dip their knives in however, at store level you probably don't have hot water in your coolers. I don't know what you use today in meat departments but what ever it is it must be food grade so use it between cuts. There is not nearly as much potential for contamination on the exterior of the chuck however you may find some in the trachea-channel. So look there first.
2) Now you're at the point where you are going to break down the quarters. Try to stick to one surface location for this process and here is why. Many of the boneless sub primal cuts are sterile upon removal from the primal. The knuckle when you peel it; the eye round when you roll it out, the heel. As for the flat of the round remove a thin layer of fat from the exterior because it is the surface fat that can be the source of fecal contamination. Maybe some of you do that in the coolers. The inside round should be shaved also as well as loin. You may be loosing a little fat but you are limiting the exposure to the "super-bug" as some one called it.
There is no need for me to go on because I think you have my point. When you remove that beautiful rib eye, its sterile as well as many inside muscles from the chuck. So limit your exposure by simply using common sense.
3) Grinds! What every you do don't mix shop trim with ground beef chubs and vice versa. If you have to have the chubs to supplement your grinding volume then simply create a very simple usage sheet. Maybe you already do this if not, just simply mark down 4 pieces of information from the box of chubs you are going to grind and all the information is easy to get. A) Co. name and establishment number that will be on the front label; b) type of ground beef; c) date of production d) weight on the box. Some folks keep a clip board right by the grinder. Now this isn't fool proof but at least you will have proven records. You need to do this even if you are on a total chub grinding program.
In 1993 Ecoli 0157 was introduced to the consuming public via the disaster that befell Jack In The Box. This event became a pivotal moment in the history of the beef industry and that's when everything changed.
*Internal temperature cooking was changed from 140 to 155 degrees
*FSIS introduced "testing requirements" for 0157 and "safe handling labeling".
*0157 was classified by the USDA as a "adulterant in ground beef".
*The creation of the HACCP program.:Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. What this meant for the packer was "zero tolerance".
It is said Foodmaker the parent company of Jack In The Box shelled out 50 million dollars in settlements. And I can tell you this with a certain amount of accuracy that the beef industry doled out 10 times that amount just to comply with all the new regulations that were created. And in the end, guess who is the biggest loser's? The consuming public as all costs were passed on to all of us in the price of beef.
I have to admit that we mixed store trim with coarse ground chubs all the time. However our company had a very rigorous sanitation program. We were required to completely break down, clean and sanitize the grinder and blender after every grind which had to be a minimum of every 4 hours. Anything in the case had to be reduced after 4 hours and thrown out at the end of the day. Get caught re-grinding it and you were terminated. In the cutting room all equipment had to be broken down, cleaned and sanitized at the end of every 8 hour shift (we were 24/7). The cutting tables were flipped mid-shift unless you were changing commodity in which case they had to be cleaned and sanitized then also. Beyond that, our company Sanitarian was so respected and had so much clout that he could have any plant shut down with just a phone call, and I don't mean just our own Pathmark owned plants. It's also why we NEVER ever saw the Board of Health. He was so much tougher and they knew it. WE had to take regular training in certified food handling and food borne illness and the PA Dept. of Agriculture would let us use their facilities for this training in return for letting their own inspectors sit in on his classes.
So we never had an issue, but sort of related, does anyone in this forum remember why Food Lion had to change their name to Food Lion?
Coalcracker wrote:
Let me emphasize that I am not trying to convert anybody from rail beef to box beef. I am sharing what I know from working all my adult life in the trade. For those out there that are using rail beef you can limit the exposure of a potential Ecoli outbreak.
1) As you receive you fronts and hinds do a simple Q.A. test especially on the hind quarters. Get yourself a small powerful flashlight and start at the shank and move around the hind checking for any black specks. If you find any simply shave it off the exterior fat. No, this isn't bacteria because you need a powerful microscope to see them critters. The specks could be one of two things, either rail-dust (extremely small specks of metal) or they could be fecal. So to be safe remove them. Just to take a little more caution make sure you dip your knife in a sanitizer every time you remove a speck. The packers have hot bubbling water they dip their knives in however, at store level you probably don't have hot water in your coolers. I don't know what you use today in meat departments but what ever it is it must be food grade so use it between cuts. There is not nearly as much potential for contamination on the exterior of the chuck however you may find some in the trachea-channel. So look there first.
2) Now you're at the point where you are going to break down the quarters. Try to stick to one surface location for this process and here is why. Many of the boneless sub primal cuts are sterile upon removal from the primal. The knuckle when you peel it; the eye round when you roll it out, the heel. As for the flat of the round remove a thin layer of fat from the exterior because it is the surface fat that can be the source of fecal contamination. Maybe some of you do that in the coolers. The inside round should be shaved also as well as loin. You may be loosing a little fat but you are limiting the exposure to the "super-bug" as some one called it.
There is no need for me to go on because I think you have my point. When you remove that beautiful rib eye, its sterile as well as many inside muscles from the chuck. So limit your exposure by simply using common sense.
3) Grinds! What every you do don't mix shop trim with ground beef chubs and vice versa. If you have to have the chubs to supplement your grinding volume then simply create a very simple usage sheet. Maybe you already do this if not, just simply mark down 4 pieces of information from the box of chubs you are going to grind and all the information is easy to get. A) Co. name and establishment number that will be on the front label; b) type of ground beef; c) date of production d) weight on the box. Some folks keep a clip board right by the grinder. Now this isn't fool proof but at least you will have proven records. You need to do this even if you are on a total chub grinding program.
In 1993 Ecoli 0157 was introduced to the consuming public via the disaster that befell Jack In The Box. This event became a pivotal moment in the history of the beef industry and that's when everything changed.
*Internal temperature cooking was changed from 140 to 155 degrees
*FSIS introduced "testing requirements" for 0157 and "safe handling labeling".
*0157 was classified by the USDA as a "adulterant in ground beef".
*The creation of the HACCP program.:Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. What this meant for the packer was "zero tolerance".
It is said Foodmaker the parent company of Jack In The Box shelled out 50 million dollars in settlements. And I can tell you this with a certain amount of accuracy that the beef industry doled out 10 times that amount just to comply with all the new regulations that were created. And in the end, guess who is the biggest loser's? The consuming public as all costs were passed on to all of us in the price of beef.
