ESAM analysis II

Summary

Background
The e. coli and salmonella monitoring program was established to help Australia meet Market compliance requirements for the US. The program requires all export slaughter establishments to collect and analyse carcase samples from all slaughter species for E. coli and Salmonella. Data is then entered into a national database where it provides useful information for benchmarking Australia's performance. These data along with industry baseline data has proven very useful in Market compliance negotiations. This is particularly true now that E. coli O157:H7 data is also being recorded in the database.
Export processors have monitored their hygiene through microbiological counts since the US introduced their Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) rule in 1996 (also called the MegaRegs, because of their impact on industry). The data has been collected by processing establishments and has also been entered into the AQIS database, the National Microbiological Database (NMD), also known as the ESAM (Escherichia coli and Salmonella Monitoring) database. Previous projects conducted by MLA had developed an approach to analysing ESAM data for the purpose of setting microbiological criteria for AQIS action in the case of poor performance.
ESAM project R&D
Subsequently, MLA initiated several projects to gain more value from the ESAM database, particularly to demonstrate hygienic quality and product safety for maintaining Market compliance and consumer confidence. A project was initiated in March 2009 to develop software capable of carrying out regular data analysis of data from the ESAM database, provide regular monthly reporting to export establishments and provide training to industry and AQIS on the interpretation of those reports. 61 of a total of 62 establishments agreed to participate in a trial with routine monthly reports being provided to 48 establishments.
A fully functional software system has been implemented and regular reports are being provided to establishments on a monthly basis. Monthly reporting to establishments began in June 2009 and is continuing.  
Industry impact
Impacts occur at two levels, being the whole industry and individual enterprises, The whole industry has access to data to support claims for the quality of Australia's systems and their implementation. A key performance indicator in MLA's Annual Operating Plan relates to these benchmarks.  Investigation of trends can occur on a whole industry basis to ensure that Australia's quality remains at the highest standard.  At the level of individual enterprises, value is gained from understanding trends and comparisons with the whole industry, and opportunities are gained for learning and further research, and thus future improvements from understanding the reasons for these trends.
A survey of the service which was conducted in May 2010 indicated that on the whole people who used the reports on the ESAM data found the information useful and informative. Some users suggested that they used the reports to benchmark their establishments and improve process. Some modifications may be made to the report, generally around readability' and ease of understanding. Benefits of this project relate to pre-emptive threat reduction and improved industry service, rather than direct cost savings or other quantifiable benefits. Non quantifiable benefits include;A regular monthly benchmarking reporting service that allows each processor to monitor their hygienic performance both against themselves and nationally. By allowing establishments to compare their performance against the national baseline and against their own past results, they can improve their process or benchmark their improvement over a period of time. Establishments will be able to demonstrate how good their product is compared to the national baseline.
Establishments are able to assess the validity of the data entered into the NMD and rectify errors. Consequently data quality is expected to improve over time. Better quality data will assist processors, the industry and AQIS during Market compliance negotiations.
A tool that assists establishments to respond to AQIS (FSIS) investigating E. coli O157 occurrences.
Use in performance benchmarking being developed between AMIC and AQIS as arisk-based' performance management system for establishments.
Compliance with a newly issued guideline from FSIS demanding aprocess control' approach to E. coli O157, which could be delivered through this mechanism.