UK-York: research and development services and related consultancy services

FS241045

The Food standards agency wishes to review current practices utilised by manufacturers in the management of L. monocytogenes in the UK cooked sliced meat sector, identifying key risk areas in the whole processing chain and potential gaps in the management of these. The project should cover companies that slice pre-cooked meats (e.g. deli counters), as well as those manufacturing pre-packed cooked sliced meats. This will be done with a view to developing information for Food business operators (in particular SMEs) and Local food authorities on the key risk areas for L. monocytogenes contamination and the monitoring and management of these. In particular, it is envisaged that the outputs of this project will be used to underpin the development of a decision support tool that will be taken forward as a separate piece of work. Please note that the project should focus on cooked sliced meats and should not include cured/fermented meats. It is expected that the following activities will be required to fulfil this research requirement:
— Conduct a systematic review of the available literature to identify key monitoring and intervention steps applicable in the UK for manufacturers of cooked sliced meats with regard to Listeria. The review should adopt a comprehensive search strategy and in particular consider studies which are relevant to the management of Listeria in cooked sliced meat production. It is anticipated that in reviewing key papers applicants will use explicit and objective criteria for inclusion and rejection based on the quality of the studies being considered,
— Information gathering on industry practices in relation to issues such as cleaning and monitoring with regard to Listeria (e.g. environmental swabbing and food sampling regimes),
— Information gathering on manufacturers’ attitudes to cleaning and monitoring with regard to Listeria and on the difficulties faced by the food businesses in relation to controlling and testing of Listeria in the manufacturing environment,
— Obtaining information on slicing and packing methods and associated risk management practices utilised by the cooked sliced meat sector,
— Obtaining information on the products’ shelf life and what supporting evidence manufacturers base this on,
— Information gathering on inspection activities and enforcement regimes utilised by Local food authorities in relation to L. monocytogenes in cooked sliced meats,
— Establish what approach end users would find most useful if the outputs of this project are used to develop guidance on the management of Listeria monocytogenes during cooked sliced meat production (e.g. whether a decision support tool, written guidance or other options would be most useful) and make recommendations for future work.

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Submission for all lots

The notice involves a public contract

12/07/2012 00:00

United Kingdom

73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

73200000 - Research and development consultancy services

73210000 - Research consultancy services

73110000 - Research services

79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

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