July 29, 2020

 

US finds more issues with raw intact beef imports from Japan

 

 

The United States' food safety agency has released an audit report on Japan's raw intact beef exports to the US, which found - based on the review made earlier this year - that Japan does not provide adequate oversight over the implementation of inspection tasks and microbiological procedures used for testing official samples, Food Safety News reported.

 

The audit report was released on July 24 and presented to the food safety and inspection division under Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). Before its release, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) presented its preliminary findings to MHLW officials during an exit meeting in Tokyo last Feb. 1.

 

As per report, the FSIS in that meeting raised more issues with Japan that it did two years ago. Besides the finding that Japan did an inadequate oversight over the implementation of inspection tasks, the FSIS also found that microbiological laboratories were not meeting the quality assurance and control criteria established by the MHLW.

 

Other findings by the FSIS auditors include:

 

-- At seven establishments, the inspectors peeling off the hide of cattle head to expose the masseter muscle were not incising deeply as required by the MHLW to inspect for cysticercosis.

 

-- At five establishments, the MHLW did not ensure adequate oversight over the implementation of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) record-keeping and verification requirements. 

 

-- The MHLW did not have an adequate chain of custody system for laboratory operations. For example, most residue samples did not have signed security seals and were not accompanied by transfer-and-storage records.

 

-- The microbiological laboratories were not analysing the entirety of the N60 sample for Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157: H7 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) during the screening of official testing.

 

-- The MHLW did not implement an appropriate method for STEC confirmation that meets equivalence expectations.

 

-- At seven establishments, the collection of 60 pieces of beef trimming for STEC testing was performed by the establishments' personnel and not by inspectors from MHLW.

 

 -- At seven establishments, the 60 pieces were neither trimmed from the exterior surface of carcase portions nor selected randomly.

 

At the audit exit meeting, the MHLW promised to address the preliminary findings, as per report.