Kendall Preece 307 Honors Meats April 28, 2019ANSC 307 HonorsExam C Take-home Portion (worth 25 points)Submitted through eCampus by 8am Monday, April 28, 2019Use notes, book Internet, etc, for answers but please reference what sources you used. Each question is worth 5 points each. Expected answer should be between a half-pageand full-page, single-spaced type (do not overwrite your answers).1. Why is E. coli O157:H7 such a problem for the beef industry? What are some of the interventions being used to combat this pathogen in slaughter plants?E. coli often times live in the intestines of animals and are most times not harmful. Some types, such as E. coli O157:H7, can make you extremely sick when ingested. E. coli such as O157:H7 release a powerful toxin known as a Shiga toxin. Shiga toxin can make your body extremely sick within 3 to 9 days after infection. Symptoms include severe abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and fever. E. coli O157:H7 can also cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which leads to the death of red blood cells that damages kidneys and can ultimately lead them to failure. Some may even develop thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) that can cause seizures or strokes after damaging the central nervous system. These can both quickly become out of hand and lead to death. Often times E. coli comes from feces or ingesta that comes in contact with carcasses or meat products after improper evisceration, failed CCP (critical control points) protocols, or mishandling of meat after shipment. Animals raised in lots with excess fecal matter that can get in their water or feed, become infected with E. coli O157:H7 and be infected prior to slaughter. Hides can be covered in fecal matter and when slaughtered, the fecal matter gets onto the carcass and contaminates it. This causes a problem to our industry as people can become sick and may even die if proper steps are not taken to remove the E. coli O157:H7. If people are dying or sick all the time, no one will buy our products and the industry will go down. The industry must do what it can to prevent the contamination or to remove it from the carcass. Some steps being taken include making sure all employees wash their hands and their clothing be clean each time they enter a feed lot, a slaughter floor, or a meatpacking plant. They must clean all of their work surfaces and utensils before each use and glovesmust be worn. Feed lots are kept much cleaner now and feed and water are kept clean and are tested for the presence of E. coli. During evisceration, carcasses follow the rules set up for them by the Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP). These rules can include checking the carcass for ingesta or fecal matter or can be some type of chemical spray used to kill harmful microbes and E. coli. Some plants can use tests to detect the presence of this pathogen, but often times they are expensive and time consuming and tend to rely primarily on following the CCP protocols to ensure safety. After processing and packaging of meats, proper transportation and storage of products must be done to ensure food safety. All of these precautions must be followedto ensure safety of the products when delivered to the consumer. Another intervention being usedto combat this pathogen is to warn consumers to properly store and cook their products.References used for question 1:Foodsafety.gov. (2019). E. coli | FoodSafety.gov. [online] Available at: https://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/causes/bacteriaviruses/ecoli/index.html [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].As well I used notes from the E. coli O157:H7 lecture2. What were some of the major points you learned during the animal welfare student presentation? How can students be more effective at communicating animal welfare/animalpractices to the public? I learned from their amazing presentation that animal welfare encompasses all aspects of an animal’s well-being. This can include proper nutrition, housing, appropriate psychological stimulus, and even comfort. I learned that influential people for animal welfare and awareness can come from all different kinds of professions. Betty white is an actress and activist, while Jane Goodall is an actual spokesperson for the conservation of wildlife and works with chimpanzees. Among the most influential to the meat industry is Temple Grandin, who is famousfor her McLibel Lawsuit against McDonalds for animal cruelty. She is the primary the Humane Methods Slaughter Act of 1978 is kept in check and in use in meat slaughter and packing plants. This act gained momentum after the Animal Welfare Act, which was originally passed in 1966. This act had many revisions throughout its history and often times did not include amendments for animals in agriculture, only usually for those involved in research, entertainment (such as circuses or zoos), or as pets. The original Act only included 6 species and then was changed in 1970 to include all “warm-blooded” animals. The Animal Welfare Act also was only started to regulate how animals were obtained but not how they were treated. Later amendments would fix this to include that animals must treated properly through actions such as giving them proper anesthetic (1970 amendment), giving them proper psychological stimulation (1986 amendment), or giving them clean environments and humane transportation (1976 amendment). I also learned that stress and inhumane handling of livestock can lead to undesirable meat such as PSE that is pale and soft from short term stress and DFD meat that is dark red and dry that is from long term stress. Staying calm and having clean pens that are not overcrowded can lead to more humane environments. If we can decrease stress through humane handling, we will get better products that consumers are more likely to purchase. The main idea presented was that if we treat animals more humanely, we get more product that is of better quality and people and animals benefit from proper animal welfare. Students can be more effective at communicating animal welfare and animal practices to the public by first starting or joining an organization that teaches and focuses on the awareness of animal welfare/practices. The students then learn from these organizations how to appeal to the public audience by holding seminars, conferences, or just general informationals for the public. Also students could raise awareness by placing posters around the school, or holding live demonstrations where all types of