COVID-19 control methods for meat processing in development

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded research project at Kansas State University and the University of Georgia is evaluating approaches to stop the spread of COVID-19 in meat and poultry processing facilities.

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(Andrea Gantz)
(Andrea Gantz)

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded research project at Kansas State University and the University of Georgia is evaluating approaches to stop the spread of COVID-19 in meat and poultry processing facilities.

During COVID-19, numerous processing facilities had to temporarily halt operations after outbreaks in workers occurred.

“There are still a lot of outbreaks happening in meat and poultry processing operations. We know that birds do not carry the COVID-19 virus, so the infections are happening through person-to-person transmission,” Harsha Thippareddi, John Bekkers Professor in Poultry Science at the University of Georgia, said.

“We want to find the best measures that we can apply in the processing plants in terms of social distancing, in terms of separating and isolating personnel on the line and more to minimize the spread of COVID-19. We are also investigating how long the virus can survive on a meat or poultry product and how to minimize that risk.”

The best approach to mitigate the spread

The researchers will be focused on testing the effectiveness of various cleaners and sanitizers against COVID-19.

“One of the first steps for us right out of the gate will be the evaluation of approved meat and poultry sanitizers and cleaners on different surfaces, like stainless steel, rubber, gaskets and more. Between the materials, the application surfaces and the chemicals, there are approximately 200-300 combinations for us to test,” said Randall Phebus, co-project director and professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University.

Much of this research will take place at Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute, a unique biocontainment facility that enables researchers to safely study high-consequence pathogens affecting plants, animals and food products.

Findings will be immediately shared with industry

The research team plans to regularly share their findings with members of an industry advisory panel. Thippareddi, alongside Manpreet Singh from the University of Georgia, lead will the team’s industry outreach efforts through site visits and discussions with the members of the panel.

“A very key aspect of this grant is that we were able to solicit ten of the biggest companies in meat and poultry processing to form an advisory committee. They will be telling us what they’re experiencing and what their issues are, while we will share what our plans are and the parameters that we’re going to use,” Phebus said.

“That means we will stay on target with very usable data that we’re proud of and can be put directly to use in the industry.”

The panel is composed of senior-level directors of food safety and plant operations at Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, National Beef Packing Company, Cargill Protein North America, JBS USA, Wayne Farms, Jennie-O Turkey Store, Tyson Fresh Meats and Costco Wholesale.

“There is guidance out there to the industry, but none of it is science-based. We’re looking at applying the science, learning how the virus behaves in real life situations and use that science-based information to form guidance for the meat and poultry processing industry,” Thippareddi said.

The two-year project was recently awarded $1 million from the USDA and $330,000 from the State of Kansas National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Transition Fund.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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