Good Retail Practices for Retail Meat Operation Processes

Cut Fabrication

Meat Contact Surfaces   

Cutting boards should be inspected for excessive scoring and scratching and replaced if necessary. If wood is used on meat contact surfaces (boards or blocks) it must be a close grained type such as hard maple and must not contain any preservatives or other coatings which could leach into food.

Tables used for meat production should be constructed of stainless steel or other corrosion resistant material, be free from sharp corners, and be finished to have smooth welds and joints.

Bins used for storage or transport of meat products must be “food grade”. In general all surfaces must not pass on colours, odours, tastes, or unsafe chemicals into meat products and be free of corrosion, flaking paint, or other condition which would prevent cleaning.

It is important that any surfaces of equipment in contact with meat products not be used simultaneously for any other purpose. Equipment which may have potential use for both inedible and edible products, such as bins, should be colour coded or labelled.

Product Inspection   

During cut fabrication, muscles should be inspected for blood clots, bruises, bone fragments, detached cartilage, faecal matter, ligaments, ingesta, off condition, harmful extraneous material, hair, hide, lesions, freezer burn, needles, or any other defect that would seriously affect product use.

Dropped or Contaminated Product

In the event that product is dropped on the floor, or contacts any other unclean surface, it should be destroyed unless it is possible to trim the contamination.

Unclean product must not be placed on cutting boards for inspection and/or trimming unless these boards are cleaned immediately afterward. If possible, a hook should be used to trim meat.

If conditions such as abscesses are present, where contamination may have spread to other products in a box or on the cutting board, these products should be destroyed or trimmed when possible. If surfaces such as cutting boards, knives, or other equipment have been exposed to contaminated product they must be cleaned and sanitized immediately. Contact your supervisor if serious defects are found.

Operational Sanitation

Cutting boards and other meat contact surfaces support the growth of spoilage and potentially harmful bacteria which will increase in numbers during the day. It is important that, where room temperatures are significantly higher than 4°C, cutting boards be cleaned and/or turned on a periodic basis throughout the day.

Other food contact items such as mesh gloves (which are warmed by hands) will support the growth of high levels of bacteria and should be thoroughly cleaned at least once per day with an approved cleaning chemical. Scabbards, bone scraper, knives, and steels should also be cleaned as required. Keep butcher twine free from contamination during use and storage. Following procedures for operational sanitation will lead to increased shelf life and reduced food safety risk.

Cutting Room Sanitation and Pest Control  

Be sure that all wet garbage is contained and covered and make certain that screens on windows opening to the outside are not torn or absent and keep doors closed when possible.

All cleaning activities should be performed using only CFIA approved chemicals. Cleaning chemicals should be stored in the original labelled container in well ventilated areas, away from food or food contact areas. Be sure to clean surfaces thoroughly with cleaning chemicals, such as detergents, before applying sanitizing solutions as they will otherwise be inactivated by organic materials and bacteria will not be killed.

When cleaning be sure to have all packaging materials, ingredients, and meat products covered, as chemicals and/or spray will contaminate products.

Employee Hygiene

Any sores or cuts must be covered with dry, tight fitting bandages, and gloves worn when hands are affected. Hair nets and, when applicable, beard nets are recommended.

Employees must wash their hands immediately following sneezing, using the washroom, following coffee/lunch breaks, or after touching their eyes, hair, mouth, nose or any unclean surface.

Personnel working in raw meat areas must not work with cooked products unless a complete cleanup and change of garments occurs.

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