title: Effect of Sampling Plans on the Risk of Escherichia coli O157 Illness.
abstract: Australia exports about 150,000 to 200,000 tons of manufacturing beef to the United States annually. Each lot is tested for Escherichia coli O157 using the N-60 sampling protocol, where 60 small pieces of surface meat from each lot of production are tested. A risk assessment of E. coli O157 illness from the consumption of hamburgers made from Australian manufacturing meat formed the basis to evaluate the effect of sample size and amount on the number of illnesses predicted. The sampling plans evaluated included no sampling (resulting in an estimated 55.2 illnesses per annum), the current N-60 plan (50.2 illnesses), N-90 (49.6 illnesses), N-120 (48.4 illnesses), and a more stringent N-60 sampling plan taking five 25-g samples from each of 12 cartons (47.4 illnesses per annum). While sampling may detect some highly contaminated lots, it does not guarantee that all such lots are removed from commerce. It is concluded that increasing the sample size or sample amount from the current N-60 plan would have a very small public health effect.
authors.affiliation: South Australian Research and Development Institute, G.P.O. Box 397, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia; Statistical Process Improvement Consulting and Training Pty. Ltd., P.O. Box 301, Gumeracha, South Australia 5233, Australia. andreas.kiermeier@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiermeier
authors.affiliation: Meat & Livestock Australia, Locked Bag 991, North Sydney, New South Wales 2059, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sumner
authors.affiliation: Meat & Livestock Australia, Locked Bag 991, North Sydney, New South Wales 2059, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jenson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002417:Cattle; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control; D064088:Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points / Q000379:methods*; D008460:Meat / Q000191:economics / Q000382:microbiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States