Assessment of the Risk to Consumers as a Result of Disruption to the Cold Chain During Direct Supply of Qurbani Meat and Offal

Qurbani is a religious practice involving animal slaughter that takes place during Eid
al-Adha. Consumers who undertake their Qurbani in the UK wish to collect their
meat and red offal as soon as possible following slaughter, which means these will
not necessarily comply with chilling requirements set out in retained Regulation (EC)
853/2004. The supply of meat above 7 °C and offal above 3 °C may allow for the
growth of pathogens, increasing the risk of illness. The pathogens that were chosen
for inclusion in this assessment are non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica, Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli, and Clostridium perfringens. Their growth characteristics
and prevalence in beef, lamb and goat meat and offal are discussed.
This risk assessment also considers three surveys carried out in the summer of
2021, targeting food business operators, official veterinarians and consumers. These
surveys collected information on the origin of animals for Qurbani, quality assurance
at the slaughterhouse, the chilling achieved post-slaughter, the route to consumers
(either via a butcher or wholesaler, or consumers collecting their Qurbani directly),
and consumer storage and cooking behaviours.
The assessment concluded that, given the number of factors affecting the risk to
consumers from the supply of meat and offal for Qurbani, there were two important
scenarios with distinct outcomes. In the typical scenario, which is the most likely
outcome based on the collected data, there is no significant difference in risk to
consumer health, and the risk level was established as Very Low (“very rare, but
cannot be excluded”). In a reasonably foreseeable worst-case scenario, Salmonella
spp. and STEC levels may increase by 1-2 log10 CFU/g, presenting an increased risk
to the consumer. This risk level was established as Low (“rare but does occur”).
Significant uncertainties remain, including the temperature of the carcase and offal
when it reaches consumers, epidemiological data linking cases of illness to the
consumption of Qurbani meat and offal, and the prevalence and enumeration levels
of the three pathogens in meat, especially goat, and offal. The overall uncertainty
level for this assessment is High.