Ready-to-eat Meat Plant Characteristics Associated with Food Safety Deficiencies During Regulatory Compliance Audits, Ontario, Canada

•Some of meat plant characteristics were associated with food safety deficiencies.•Overall passing audits were higher among free-standing meat plants than abattoirs.•Free-standing meat plants had a lower audit item fail rate than abattoirs.•Plants that produced meat jerky had an elevated audit item fail rate. Food safety deficiencies in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat processing plants can increase foodborne disease risks. The purpose of this study was to identify common deficiencies and factors related to improved food safety performance in RTE meat plants in Ontario. Routine food safety audit records for licensed provincial free-standing meat processing plants (FSMPs) and abattoirs that process RTE meats were obtained and analyzed in Ontario, Canada, from 2015 to 2019. A Bayesian regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between selected plant characteristics and two outcomes: overall audit rating (pass vs. conditional pass or fail) and individual audit item fail rate. The audit rating was examined in a logistic model, while the audit item fail rate was evaluated in a negative binomial model. The majority (87.7%, n = 800/912) of audits resulted in a pass rating (compared to conditional pass or fail). The mean number of employees per plant, among 200/204 plants with employee data available, was 11.6 (SD = 20.6, range = 1–200). For the logistic regression model, FSMPs were predicted to have a much higher probability of passing audits than abattoirs (32.0% on average, with a 95% credible interval [CI] of 13.8–52.8%). The number of plant employees, water source (municipal vs. private), and types of RTE meat products produced had little to no consistent association with this outcome. The negative binomial model predicted a −0.009 points lower fail rate, on average, for audit items among FSMPs than abattoirs (95% CI: −0.001, −0.018). Meat plants producing jerky had a higher audit item fail rate compared to those that did not produce such products. The other investigated variables had little to no association with this outcome. The results found in this study can support and guide future inspection, audit and outreach efforts to reduce foodborne illness risks associated with RTE meats.