Presented at 2013 Arkansas Association for Food Protection annual conference. Scott Stillwell, Ph.D. Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Tyson Foods

1. Needs of Systems Thinking for
Veterinarians and Inspectors
Food Processing Management Perspective
Scott Stillwell, Ph.D.
Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance

2. Systems Thinking
• What is a “System”?
A system is an organized collection of highly integrated parts designed to achieve a
desired outcome. The system has a wide variety of inputs which are manipulated
through a process or series of processes in a manner to produce an output.1
Inputs OutputsProcess (es)
Systems thinking is a way of thinking about… the forces and interrelationships that
shape the behavior of systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change
systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the processes of the natural
and economic world.2
• What is “Systems Thinking”?

3. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Knowledge!
• Ecology of Livestock and Poultry
• Farm-to-Fork Continuum
• Wide-Variety of Rearing, Feeding, Housing Systems
• Finishing and Transport Methods
• Slaughter and Processing Methods
• Finished Product Attributes, Packaging and Distribution
• Animal Agriculture
• Food Science
• Food Microbiology
• Food Toxicology
• Statistics

4. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Animal Agriculture
• Weakness of Inspectors; Strength of Veterinarians
• Food Science
• Rearing Environment – Confined vs. Free Range
• Feeding Regimen – Organic, Veg-Fed, “Traditional”, “Commercial”
• Veterinary Care – Antibiotics (sub- or therapeutic, growth promotion)
• Other – Beta Agonists (e.g. Zilmax, Paylean)
• Initially, a Weakness of both Inspectors and Veterinarians*
• Food Microbiology
• Food Toxicology
• Statistics

5. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Microbiology
• Veterinarians*
• Must Grasp Difference Between Indicator vs. Pathogen
• Classical Training and Education – Diagnosis and Treatment
• Good, Basic Understanding of the Role of Microorganisms in Disease
• Knowledge Translates Fairly Well into Food Processing
• Must Grasp Difference Between Presence / Absence
• Inspectors
• Limited to No Classical Training and Education
• Generally not an Issue in Slaughter or First-Processing
• Significant Issue in Further Processing

6. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Microbiology
• To What are Livestock / Products Intentionally Exposed?
• To What are Livestock / Products Potentially Exposed?
• To What are Livestock / Products Accidentally Exposed?
• To What May Livestock / Products be Maliciously Exposed?
• What Can be Done to Mitigate / Prevent / Detect?
• At What Point(s) in the Farm-to-Fork Continuum?
• What Concentrations are Meaningful?

7. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Microbiology -- Example
• Raw Poultry Products were Lost in the Raw WIP Cooler
and Exceeded the Specified Number of Days to Cook
• Industry Reps Conduct Hazard Assessment
• Products Evaluated by Industry and Government Inspectors
• Industry Collected Aerobic Plate Count Samples
• What is the Veterinarian / Inspector to Do?
• Affected Products Tagged “USDA-Retained”
• APC Results (n=30) Range from 104 – 106 CFUs/gram (mean = 105)
• Is the USDA-Retained Tag Removed?

8. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Toxicology
• Veterinarians*
• Must Grasp that Compounds May be Present at Meaningless Conc.
• Classical Training and Education – Diagnosis and Treatment
• Good, Basic Understanding of the Role of Biochemistry
• Knowledge Translates Fairly Well into Food Processing
• Must Grasp Meaning of Presence / Absence (Limits of Detection)
• Inspectors
• Limited to No Classical Training and Education
• Generally not an Issue in Slaughter or First-Processing
• Significant Issue in Further Processing

9. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Toxicology
• To What are Livestock / Products Intentionally Exposed?
• What Can be Done to Mitigate / Prevent / Detect?
• To What are Livestock / Products Potentially Exposed?
• To What are Livestock / Products Accidentally Exposed?
• To What May Livestock / Products be Maliciously Exposed?
• At What Point(s) in the Farm-to-Fork Continuum?
• What Concentrations are Meaningful?

10. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Food Toxicology -- Example
• A Toilet Bowl Cleaner Tablet is Purposefully Introduced
into an Immersion Poultry Chiller
• Industry Reps Conduct Hazard Assessment
• Carcasses Exhibiting Blue Stains are Observed Exiting the Chiller
• Does This Represent an Unforeseen Hazard?
• What is the Veterinarian / Inspector to Do?
• Affected Products Tagged “USDA-Retained”
• All Ingredients in Commercially Available Products are Food Grade
• Is the USDA-Retained Tag Removed?

11. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Statistics – Industrial / Applied and Classical
• Veterinarians and Inspectors*
• Beta Error – Accepts Faulty Analysis and Allows Products to
Bear the Mark of Inspection
• Very Limited Classical Training and Education
• As with General Population, Would Rather be Beaten!
• This leads to Two Possible Problems
• Alpha Error – Asserts Authority and Condemns Products

12. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Statistics
• When Does a Sample Reliably Represent the Population?
• When is a Treatment Meaningful – e.g. Poultry Transport
Cage Wash?
• When are Samples Different?
• When are Samples Not Different?
• How Must We Validate Food Safety Systems?
• When is a Process “Out of Control”?

13. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Statistics -- Example
• The Hazard Analysis Concluded that Hard, Sharp Metal
Materials are a HNRLTO Based Upon Historical Data
(Incidents vs. Pounds Produced)
• Industry Reps Conduct Hazard Reassessment
• Mean Time Between Failure = 264,049 Pounds (41.42
Average Lifetimes; L.E. 75 Years, 85#/Year Consumption)
• What is the Veterinarian / Inspector to Do?
• Is the HACCP Plan Validated / Should There be a CCP?
• Detector Rejects Hazardous Piece after only 35,557 Pounds

14. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing

15. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Statistics -- Example
• A Bacteriostatic Compound was Formulated into a Fully
Cooked, Refrigerated Meat Item to Retard Excessive
Proliferation of Listeria monocytogenes During Shelf Life
• Control and Treated Products are Subjected to an
Inoculation Challenge Study for 1.2 Times Shelf Life
• Does the Veterinarian / Inspector Accept the Formula as
Validated to Provide Sufficient Control?
• Treated Product Demonstrates Less Than 1.0 Log10 Increase

16. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
Whole Muscle Roast Beef Treated vs Control
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 20 40 60 80 100
Days from Innoculation
LogListeria
Treated
Control

17. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
Whole Muscle Roast Beef Shelf Life
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 20 40 60 80 100
Days from Innoculation
LogListeria
Treated
99% Upper Confidence Limit
Level of 2 log Grow th

18. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Veterinarians and Inspectors*
• Antagonistic Relationship – Hiding Things from the
Inspectors
• Very Limited Classical Training or Education
• As with General Population, Highly Variable Skill Set!
• This May Leads to Two Possible Problems
• Command and Control!
• Veterinarians are Generally the Most Educated Person in the Building
• System Thinking – Neither Group Will Have a Full Understanding
• Lose / Lose Situation!

19. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking
• Very Difficult
• Discounts the Potential for the “Black Swan Event”
• Most Management Taught to Think “Cause and Effect”
• The Complex System is Nothing More than the Sum of Its Parts!
• Scientific Reductionism
• “Black Swan Event” – Emerging Pathogens / Novel Vectors
• Listeria monocytogenes in Cantaloupe

20. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking -- Example
• Control of Enteric Pathogens on Raw Poultry
• Improved Growing Conditions = 1
• Autogenous Vaccine for Breeders = 1
• Sum of Enteric Pathogen Reduction ≠5
• Sum of Enteric Pathogen Reduction > 5
• Reduced Transport Stress = 1
• “Feathers On” Intervention = 1
• Multiple Hurdles in Dressing and Chilling = 1

21. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking -- Example
• Control of Enteric Pathogens in Fermented Meats
• Reduction of pH During Fermentation = 1
• Curing with Sodium Nitrite = 1
• Sum of Enteric Pathogen Reduction ≠ 5
• Sum of Enteric Pathogen Reduction > 5
• Production of Bacteriocins = 1
• Relatively Mild Thermal Process = 1
• Drying and Maturation = 1

22. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking
• Some Controls are Critical
• Some Controls Only Show an Effect in Combination with
Other Controls
• Some Controls are Merely Important
• Unfortunately, Veterinarians and Inspectors Can’t See the System
• Some Controls are Not Necessary at All Times
• This Led Industry to Insist Some Controls be Recognized as
Pre-Requisite Programs – Allow the System to Provide
Feedback

23. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking
• Unfortunately, Veterinarians and Inspectors Can’t See the
Entire System
• Currently, If They Don’t Understand Systems Thinking
When Initially Placed, the Only Hope is “O.J.T.”
• These People Represent the Talent Pool for District Office
and DC Staff Positions
• This Would Require a “Systems Thinking” Instructor
• Too Much of What Constitutes O.J.T. is Wrong!
• If They Don’t Have it When Placed, They Need to Get it Somewhere!

24. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
• Systems Thinking -- Conclusions
• We Need a System to Provide Comprehensive Food Safety
Education and Training with Emphasis on the System
• A similar or Complementary System for Veterinarians and
Inspectors Must be Established
• Tyson Foods Teamed up with the University of Arkansas
Over a Decade Ago to Develop Education for Industry
• Materials Must be Based Upon Peer-Reviewed Data
• The Program of Study Must be Comprehensive
• Continuing Education or Specialized Module for Vets / Inspectors

25. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
“…in this place it takes all the running
you can do, to keep in the same
place.“
~ Red Queen to Alice in Through the Looking Glass
The Red Queen Principle
- Leigh van Valen (Evolutionary Biologist, 1973)

26. Systems Thinking
In Meat and Poultry Food Processing
References
1. Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity
Consulting, LLC. at:
http://managementhelp.org/systems/index.htm
2. Peter M. Senge, “The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook:
Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning
Organization”, The Crown Publishing Group.
Acknowledgments
Dennis Johnson, J.D. and Barbara Masters, DVM – OFW Law
Ashley Peterson, Ph.D. – NCC
Mark Dopp and Bill James – AMI
Neal Apple, Ph.D. and Dan Zelenka, Ph.D. – Tyson Foods