Robustness of a Cross Contamination Model Describing Transfer of Pathogens During Grinding of Meat

This study aimed to evaluate a cross contamination model1 for its capability of describing transfer of Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes during grinding of varying sizes and numbers of pieces of meats in two grinder systems. Data from 19 trials were collected. Three evaluation approaches were applied: i) Acceptable Simulation Zone method compared observed with simulated transfer, ii) each trial was fitted and parameters were integrated in a Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment model, iii) the Total Transfer Potential was calculated from fitted parameters. Risk estimates revealed that grinding was influenced by sharpness of grinder knife, specific grinder and grinding temperature.