C. bovis poses a food safety risk to humans and infected carcasses can be partly or fully condemned at processing. At processing, either routine (minimum) or full carcase inspection of carcasses is carried out in accordance with Australian Standard 4696:2023. To reduce the need to routinely incise the masseter muscles off all cattle, industry and government have implemented a risk framework to identify enterprises which use ‘high-risk’ recycled water in relation to C. bovis, resulting in high-risk cattle.
The livestock production assurance program is introducing the management of risk related to recycled water use to ensure only cattle from properties using high-risk recycled water are subject to full inspection at processing.
Shelf life (or storage life) has always been important in the meat trade, and is becoming increasingly so, as Australian retailers and importers in overseas countries request information to substantiate company claims about how long their products will remain saleable and increase in export activities such as retail ready.
How to use the Shelf Life Calculator
Guide to data loggers and the shelf life model
Predictive models for shelf life of Australians vacuum packed beef and lamb
This Excel based calculator can be used to predict remaining shelf life of vacuum packed beef and lamb, based on storage temperature, and an estimation of the microbial load (Total Viable Count (TVC)) at the time of packing.
In the coming years, all processing plants must install a RFID panel reader to read RFID tags and compatible software to then upload the EID tags to the NLIS database.
The factsheet includes recommendations for implementation and dates for each State and Territory.