The food industry plays a critical role in managing food safety risks to protect the public from antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria and pathogens of high clinical importance. In the case of Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), strains of food safety significance are typically defined at the subspecies level based on a limited number of antigenic and virulence markers. However, these markers are not always useful predictors of disease potential.
As scientific knowledge advances, there is ample opportunity to refine pathogen definitions to improve food safety systems and decrease the incidence of foodborne illness. In recent years, proposals have been made for new international frameworks that aim to better manage the risk of Salmonella and STEC in beef products.
These new strategies consider factors such as genotype-based attribution data, the prevalence and levels in different food types, end-use considerations, and virulence markers that evaluate disease potential and health impacts. This symposium will delve into these proposed international frameworks, place Australian isolates within these schemes, and provide evidence that suggests a low overall risk from AMR bacteria and pathogens in Australian red meat production systems.