Abstract

Background:

During food animal production, animals are exposed to, colonized by, and sometimes infected with bacteria that may contaminate animal products with susceptible and multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO). The United States’ Organic Foods Production Act resulted in decreased antibiotic use in some animal production operations. Some studies have reported that decreased antibiotic use is associated with reduced MDRO on meat.

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to investigate associations of meat production and processing methods with MDRO and overall bacterial contamination of retail meats.

Methods:

Bacterial contamination data from 2012 to 2017 for chicken breast, ground beef, ground turkey, and pork chops were downloaded from the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to estimate associations with MDRO contamination and any contamination (adjusted for year and meat type) overall, and according to bacteria genus (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli) and meat type.

Results:

A total of 39,349 retail meat samples were linked to 216 conventional, 123 split (conventional and organic), and three organic processing facilities. MDRO contamination was similar in conventionally produced meats processed at split vs. conventional facilities but was significantly lower in organically produced meats processed at split facilities $\left[\text{adjusted prevalance ratio\hspace{0.17em}}\right(\text{aPR})=0.43$; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.63]. Meat processed by split vs. conventional processors had higher or similar MDRO contamination for all tested bacterial genera except Campylobacter ($\text{aPR}=0.29$; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.64). The prevalence of any contamination was lower in samples processed at split vs. conventional facilities for aggregated samples ($\text{aPR}=0.70$; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.73) and all meat types and bacterial genera.

Discussion:

Organically produced and processed retail meat samples had a significantly lower prevalence of MDRO than conventionally produced and processed samples had, whereas meat from split processors had a lower prevalence of any contamination than samples from conventional processors had. Additional studies are needed to confirm findings and clarify specific production and processing practices that might explain them. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7327

中文翻译：

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与有机和常规生产和加工相关的多药耐药菌对零售肉类样品的污染：美国国家抗菌素耐药性监测系统数据的横截面分析，2012-2017

摘要

背景：

在食用动物生产过程中，动物会暴露于细菌、定植于细菌，有时还会感染细菌，这些细菌可能会用易感和耐多药微生物 (MDRO) 污染动物产品。美国的《有机食品生产法》导致一些动物生产操作中抗生素的使用减少。一些研究报告说，减少抗生素的使用与减少肉类中的 MDRO 有关。

目标：

本研究的目的是调查肉类生产和加工方法与 MDRO 和零售肉类整体细菌污染的关系。

方法：

从国家抗菌素耐药性监测系统下载2012年至2017年鸡胸肉、碎牛肉、碎火鸡和猪排的细菌污染数据。根据细菌属（沙门氏菌、弯曲杆菌、肠球菌、大肠杆菌）和肉类型，使用具有稳健方差的泊松回归模型来估计与 MDRO 污染和任何污染（根据年份和肉类类型调整）的关联。

结果：

共有 39,349 个零售肉类样品与 216 个传统、123 个拆分（传统和有机）和三个有机加工设施相关联。MDRO 污染在分体加工的传统生产肉类与传统设施相似，但在分体加工的有机生产肉类中明显较低$\left[\text{调整后患病率\hspace{0.17em}}\right(\text{aPR})=0.43$; 95% CI：0.30, 0.63]。对于除弯曲杆菌外的所有测试细菌属，分体式加工与传统加工商加工的肉类具有更高或相似的 MDRO 污染（$\text{aPR}=0.29$; 95% CI：0.13, 0.64)。与用于聚合样品的传统设施相比，在拆分处理的样品中任何污染的发生率较低（$\text{aPR}=0.70$; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.73) 和所有肉类类型和细菌属。

讨论：

有机生产和加工的零售肉类样品的 MDRO 流行率显着低于传统生产和加工的样品，而来自分体加工商的肉类的任何污染流行率低于来自传统加工商的样品。需要进一步的研究来确认发现并阐明可能解释它们的具体生产和加工实践。https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7327