2005 NARMS Retail Meat Annual Report - Introduction

The primary purpose of the NARMS retail meat surveillance program is to monitor the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among foodborne pathogenic and commensal organisms, in particular, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus and E. coli  The results generated by the NARMS retail meat program will establish a reference point for analyzing trends of antimicrobial resistance among these foodborne bacteria.  NARMS retail meat surveillance is an ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Center for Veterinary Medicine), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in 2005, all 10 of the current FoodNet laboratories: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee.  Bacterial isolates are sent to FDA/CVM for confirmation of species, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and genetic analysis.

For calendar year 2005, all test sites began retail meat sampling in January.  A total of 40 food samples were purchased per month comprised of 10 samples each of chicken breast, ground turkey, ground beef, and pork chops.  Samples were kept cold during transport from the grocery store(s) to the laboratory.  All ten FoodNet sites cultured the meats and poultry rinsates for the presence of Salmonella and Campylobacter.  Four of the ten FoodNet laboratories (Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, and Tennessee) also cultured meat and poultry rinsates for the presence of E. coli and Enterococcus.

Changes in 2005

In 2005, bacitracin was replaced with tigecycline on the panel of agents tested against Enterococcus. A total of 4781 meats samples were collected, compared with 4699 in 2004. Breakpoints were changed for bacitracin, kanamycin and lincomycin (see Table 1).

NARMS retail meat working group, 2005

Acknowledgements

Much thanks to Deborah Brooks, Michelle Talley and Hung Dang for providing outstanding web support to the NARMS program.