Modernising meat hygiene monitoring in Australia

Project background

Over the past 25 years, Australia’s meat industry has seen major improvements in infrastructure and process control, driven in part by mandatory hygiene monitoring. National baseline studies of beef and sheep carcases and cuts have shown a clear trend of improved microbiological profiles, especially in beef, where E. coli counts were often below detectable limits.

As a result, some processors questioned the value of routine E. coli testing on carcases, since results rarely aligned with end-product testing or port-of-entry requirements. At the same time, the industry has moved away from marketing whole carcases and toward increased processing of meat cuts and offal. These shifts highlighted the need to review Australia’s microbiological monitoring and meat hygiene assessment systems to ensure they remain relevant and effective.

Objectives

• Review the Australian meat hygiene monitoring system (microbiological and Meat Hygiene Assessment) to assess its effectiveness in evaluating process control and food safety.
• Identify and investigate improved monitoring methods that are both effective and cost-efficient.
• Test the revised Product Hygiene Index system and define appropriate limits by collecting baseline data from beef, sheep, and pig establishments.
• Develop a timely reporting system with clearly defined performance criteria, using structured recording and reporting templates.

Research approach

This project is part of a broader program of research aimed at improving meat hygiene monitoring and product integrity in Australia. The program includes the following projects:

1. Process control monitoring – is there a better way (AMPC 2017-1068)
2. Process monitoring for the Australian meat industry – a comparative industry trial (AMPC 2018-1070)
3. Microbiological food safety and storage life of Australian red meat (AMPC 2018-1086)
4. Visual monitoring of carcase and carton meats – a system for the 21st century (AMPC 2019-1066)
5. Meat Hygiene Assessment 3 – an industry trial (AMPC 2021-1091)
6. Guideline and journal paper for Meat Hygiene Assessment 3 (Product Monitoring) (MLA V.MFS.0004)
7. Review of meat hygiene assessment (process monitoring) (AMPC 2024-1004)
8. Pilot of risk-based process monitoring (AMPC 2025-1092)

Across these projects, the core research activities have focused on developing improved systems for monitoring meat hygiene and product integrity. Each system has been tested through industry trials, with data collected to evaluate their performance and effectiveness. All research has been conducted in close consultation with industry and regulatory stakeholders.

Expected outcomes

This suite of projects has delivered several key outcomes:

• Confirmed that the microbiological profile of bovine, ovine and porcine carcases has improved significantly over recent decades, as shown by the E. coli and Salmonella Monitoring database and national baseline surveys.
• Found that the microbiology of bulk meat, primals and offals aligns well with standards used by international markets (eg New Zealand) and major commercial buyers (eg supermarkets).
• Proposed a new system for testing carcases, bulk meat, primals and offals that gives clearer, more useful information to both meat processors and their customers.
• Developed a risk-based Meat Hygiene Assessment system—covering both product and process—that is faster to complete and produces more targeted, actionable results. This helps processors focus on food safety and business-specific risks while using labour more efficiently.