V.MFS.0450 - V.MFS.0450 - ESAM analysis reporting services 2020-2025
SARDI has provided the ESAM/NCMMP Analysis Reporting Service for the past 18 years to assist Quality Assurance staff in the meat processing industry.
| Project start date: | 01 August 2020 |
| Project end date: | 25 February 2026 |
| Publication date: | 30 March 2026 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grain-fed Cattle, Grass-fed Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | National |
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Summary
Australian red meat export slaughter establishments provide microbiological data to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under the National Carcase Microbiological Monitoring Program (NCMMP). To utilise and analyse these data in a more user-friendly format for interpretation, SARDI has provided the ESAM/NCMMP Analysis Reporting Service for the past 18 years to assist Quality Assurance staff in the meat processing industry.
In the wake of the Jack-in-the-Box illnesses involving E. coli O157:H7 in 1993, the United States’ Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service required meat establishments to implement microbiological testing of meat destined for grinding. In Australia in December 1997, the then-regulator Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (now known as the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE)) developed a program for E. coli and Salmonella Monitoring (ESAM) of carcases, to help Australia meet market access requirements for the US. Over the past 23 years, the ESAM program has been extended to include multiple species, carton meat testing and microbiological tests for aerobic plate counts, coliforms, generic E. coli, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and the ‘Big Six’ Shiga toxin-producing E. coli or STECs (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145).
Objectives
1. Continue the provision of monthly NCMMP reports to participating establishments until June 2025.
2. Provide a monthly report to MLA and the Department that contains national results.
3. Provide milestone reports to MLA which document all user feedback (i.e. phone calls or emails) received over the project’s duration.
4. Modify the report as required based on the outcome of feedback surveys and other feedback.
Key findings
NCMMP reports have been distributed to all participating red meat export slaughter establishments from July 2020 to June 2025. National NCMMP and STEC reports have also been provided to MLA and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The ESAM/NCMMP database at SARDI now contains approximately 2 million samples, 5.6 million test results from almost twenty years of data from 2007 to 2025.
Feedback on the NCMMP reports has been very positive and supportive as the red meat industry has been supported by the ESAM/NCMMP Analysis Reporting Service for the past 18 years and the reports, as well as the analysis service, have been a useful, valuable resource for quality assurance, monitoring, process control, reporting to management, risk management, customer relations and market access.
Benefits to industry
A history of long-term results from the ESAM/NCMMP database and reports provided by SARDI has provided valuable information and resources to establishments and the red meat industry as a whole. Scientific background monitoring information on the industry has been supported by approximately 5.6 million data points accumulated by ESAM/NCMMP and an extensive repertoire of tailored reports.
MLA action
MLA will publish the Final Report for this project.
Future research
To continue to provide the support and information delivered by the ESAM Analysis Reporting Service, DAFF are developing an online reporting platform which will generate similar data summaries and graphs for establishments on the BI tool
More information
| Project manager: | Angelica Pickup |
| Contact email: | Reports@mla.com.au |
| Primary researcher: | South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) |
