Meatco tightens measures to curtail meat contamination
Meatco has put measures in place to control metal contamination, where metal detector machines sense metals that accidentally fall into boxes with products, according to Laboratory Manager, Kalihulu Shapwa in a statement.
Shapwa said that these machines are situated in the Deboning and Red Offal Departments, adding that, however, if an object is non-metallic and accidentally falls into a box during production, it cannot be detected.
“The Quality Assurance department conducts regular Employee Involvement through communication meetings, where employees are encouraged to adhere to and practice honesty, for example, in case jewellery is misplaced in the production area,” said Shapwa.
Shapwa added that most government agencies, food producers or distributors as well as Meatco are striving to protect the health of their customers and consumers and this remains an objective and responsibility.
“We try to avoid incidents such as those of the Listeriosis outbreak in South Africa because these physical hazards cause huge economic losses to the business and people lose jobs due to simple controllable processes,” Shapwa stressed.
Moreover, large government agencies like the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service prohibits the sale of any contaminated food products in the US market or recalls such product if detected.
Thus, she said that Meatco has to constantly ensure the safety of consumers from the effects of physical contamination while enjoying its meat through investigations and controls of physical contaminants in food, which are conducted throughout the whole processing chain at the laboratory.
