Chinese-style barbecued meats: a public health challenge

The custom of displaying Chinese-style barbecued meats at room temperature has been a controversial food safety issue in North America. This article is intended to facilitate development of a risk-based food safety policy for this unique food by providing a brief overview of the recent study findings and Canadian disease surveillance data. Despite the lack of temperature control after cooking, Chinese barbecued meats were rarely implicated in foodborne incidents in Canada between 1975 and 1993. This might be due to the food's ability to delay pathogen growth during the first 5 hours immediately after cooking, and the conventional trade practices of separating the retail area from the main kitchen (i.e., reducing risk of cross-contamination). However, recent studies also pointed out the high potential for cross-contamination during the retail stage (i.e., chopping and packaging the food) as a result of lack of proper hand-washing and equipment sanitation. A risk-based food safety policy is proposed.