In response to a request from the 52nd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) convened this meeting, to collate and assess the most recent scientific information relating to the control of non-typhoidal (NT)-Salmonella spp. in chicken meat. The assessment included a review of the Codex Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Chicken Meat (CXG 78-2011). The Campylobacter will be reviewed by another meeting. The expert consultation noted that no single control measure was sufficiently effective in reducing either the prevalence or the level of contamination of broilers and poultry meat with NT-Salmonella spp. Instead, it was emphasized that control strategies based on multiple intervention steps would have the greatest impact on controlling NT-Salmonella spp. in the broiler production chain. This report describes the output of this expert meeting and the advice herein is useful for both risk assessors and risk managers, at national and international levels and those in the food industry working to control the hazard in poultry.

"Non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. are estimated to cause 93.8 million cases of acute gastroenteritis and 155,000 deaths globally each year, approximately 85% of which are estimated to be foodborne, establishing Salmonella as having a significant public health and economic impact on society. Pork products are among the top food-borne sources of Salmonella globally, while beef products have been implicated in several large outbreaks in recent years. Contamination of beef and pork with Salmonella can also have a negative impact on the agri-food and trade sectors due to costly recalls of products and by limiting market access. FAO and WHO have undertaken a systematic review of the available evidence on interventions to control Salmonella in beef and pork from primary production through processing. This information was then considered by an expert meeting which provided recommendations on efficacious interventions. This report presents the outcome of those deliberations as well as the review of studies on which the discussions were based, providing the reader with a wealth of up to date information on the currently available interventions for the control of Salmonella in beef and pork."--Publisher's description.

Human trichinellosis is caused by the consumption of raw or inadequately treated meat from domestic or game animals containing the larvae of parasites of the Trichinella species. Taenia saginata causes bovine cysticercosis, a parasitic disease of cattle, by the larval stage (Cysticercus bovis) of the human tapeworm Taenia saginata. Taeniosis, infection of humans with the adult tapeworm, ocurrs following consumption of beef with cysticerci that has not been sufficiently heated or frozen to kill the parasite. This report provides the spreadsheet models resulted in effective generation of the quantitative information needed by public health officials when evaluating different postmortem meat hygiene programmes for Trichinella spp. and Taenia saginata in meat. The models enable the development of science-based risk scenarios to assess the effect of various changes to digestion testing and meat inspection for Trichinella spp. and Taenia saginata on the residual risk of human trichinellosis and taeniosis. The outcome of estimation is based on changes in relative risks rather than specific estimates of risk.

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet and are protective against many chronic health conditions. Yet, fresh fruits and vegetables have been consistently implicated in food safety incidents involving microbiological hazards around the globe for decades. In response to requests of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene concerning microbiological hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables and to update and expand the information available in Microbiological hazards in fresh leafy vegetables and herbs (MRA14), which was published in 2008, FAO and WHO convened a series of expert meetings in 2021 to 2022. The purpose of the meetings was to collect, review and discuss relevant measures to control microbiological hazards from primary production to point of sale in fresh, ready-to-eat (RTE) and minimally processed fruits and vegetables, including leafy vegetables. The experts made an effort to update and include any recent trends in commodity and pathogen pairing or pathogen occurrence and presence with a focus on emerging and neglected pathogens. The primary production in open fields was investigated by considering the location, adjacent land use, topography, and climate; prior land use; water; wildlife, animal and human intrusion; soil amendments; and harvest and packing. The experts also worked on: primary production in protected facilities; minimal processing; transport, distribution, and point of sale; and also the gaps in mitigation and interventions measures. The advice herein is useful for both risk assessors and risk managers, at national and international levels and those in the food industry working to control the relevant hazards in the fresh fruits and vegetables. the development of improved mitigation and intervention measures.

To collate and assess the most recent scientific information relevant to the control of thermotolerant Campylobacter species in broiler production and chicken meat, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) convened a meeting in Rome, Italy in February 2023. The expert committee reviewed the available data on Campylobacter control including scientific literature published from 2008 to October 2022 and data submitted in response to a call for data for this meeting. The experts: 1) determined the quality and quantity of evidence of control measures for Campylobacter, 2) evaluated the impact of measures to control Campylobacter in the broiler production chain, 3) determined which hazard-based interventions pertained specifically to Campylobacter and which were general to the control of foodborne pathogens in the pre- and post-harvest broiler production chain, and 4) reviewed and recommended revisions to the Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Chicken Meat. This report describes the output of this expert meeting and the advice herein is useful for both risk assessors and risk managers, at national and international levels and those in the food industry working to control the hazard in poultry.

Although Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have been isolated from a variety of food production animals, they are most commonly associated with ruminants from which we derive meat and milk. Because of the widespread and diverse nature of ruminant-derived food production, coupled with the near ubiquity of STEC worldwide, there is no single definitive solution for controlling STEC that will work alone or in all situations. Instead, the introduction of multiple interventions applied in sequence, as a “multiple-hurdle scheme” at several points throughout the food chain (including processing, transport and handling) will be most effective. This report summarises the review and evaluation of interventions applied for the control of STEC in cattle, raw beef and raw milk and raw milk cheese manufactured from cows’ milk, and also evaluated available evidence for other small ruminants, swine and other animals. The information is presented from primary production, to the end of processing, providing the reader with information on the currently available interventions based on the latest scientific evidence. This work was undertaken to support the development of guidelines for the control of STEC in beef, raw milk and cheese produced from raw milk by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH).