Verificação da contaminação por Listeria monocytogenes em salsichas resfriadas de frango com vistas à adaptação dos procedimentos de auto controle

Abstract

Sausage is considered an inexpensive, easy to prepare manufactured product. Such characteristics implied a greater growth in production and consumption if compared to other meat products. Because of that, companies are also even more concerned with issues such as quality and safety of its products. Control of the production processes are increasingly being intensified in order to minimize or eliminate risks of microbiological contamination, which can condemn its sale and consumption, especially when contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in a sausage industry located in southwestern Paraná – Brazil. The study aimed to identify in what step of the production occurred a specific contamination in the production. Data collected from all control planes deployed in the company, and from documents that record the nonconformities and corrective actions allowed us to understand in which step of the production process there was a failure that led to contamination. Although there was no other detections of the presence of Listeria, results of data researched showed a possible failure in the company's self-control program concerning hygiene control. Conclusions show that operational hygiene was the main cause of failure during the production process causing that specific contamination. After corrective actions were taken in order to intensify the safety of the process control, there was no recurrence of the presence of the microorganism in the company. Conclusions also show that good and proper monitoring is thus necessary during the whole production process (from beginning to the end) to avoid/eliminate risks of contamination to the final product.