Microbiological Quality of Goat Carcasses at Different Stages of Slaughter in Dallam Island Abattoir

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate the microbial quality of goat carcasses at Dallma island slaughterhouse in Alzafraa District, UAE, during June 2017. A total of 284 swab samples were collected from 40 carcasses for identification of the isolates and bacterial total viable counts (TVCs). Cotton swab samples were also collected from knives and hands of workers used in the slaughter process. The study found that predominant bacterial isolates at Dallma were E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus and these were revealed very low values before and after treatment of operational points also at worker's hands and their knives were low, but Salmonella spp. was not detected. The mean total viable count (TVCs) post skinning, post evisceration and post washing at neck site was 2.26 ± 0.81, 2.48± 0.81 and 2.74± 0.66 log CFU/cm 2 before the treatment, whereas after treatment was 1.60 ± 0.60, 1.65 ± 0.58 and 1.33 ± 0.58 log CFU/cm 2 with statistically significant difference (P<0.05). In brisket site, TVCs before treatment of the carcasses were 2.24 ± 0.64, 2.62± 0.57 and 3.01±0.52 log l0 CFU/cm 2 but after the treatment of the samples were 1.67 ± 0.94, 1.87 ± 0.74 and 1.68 ±0.81 CFU/cm 2 , with statistically significant difference (P<0.05).TVCs of the samples from the rump site samples before treatment at operational points, revealed mean 2.54± 0.49, 2.56±0.84 and 2.37±0.63 log 10 CFU/cm 2 and after treatment were, 1.73 ± 0.81, 1.87 ±0.74 and 1.55±0.62 log l0 CFU/cm 2 respectively (P<0.05). In shoulder site, TVC in the three points of operation before treatment were 1.37±0.62, 2.75±0.84 and 2.73±0.66 log l0 CFU/cm 2 , whereas after treatment 1.40 ± 0.73, 1.73 ±0.45 and 1.61 ±0.69 log lo CFU/cm 2 with statistically significant. TVC in knives after skinning and evisceration before treatment samples were 3.23±0.66 and 3.00±0.48 log CFU/cm 2 while after treatment were 1.18 ± 0.28 and 1.30±0.47 logCFU/cm 2 . Also the TVC, of the hands of the workers post skinning, post evisceration and post washing were 3.15±0.37, 3.43±0.34 and 3.15±0.30 log l0 CFU/cm before treatment samples, but in treated samples were 2.54 ± 0.41, 1.64 ±0.44 and 2.68 ±0.79 log l0 CFU/cm 2 respectively. The decontamination processes are important to eliminate the sources of contamination and that by application of food safety methods such as HACCP and an appropriate training for personnel.

Assessment of hygiene of slaughter and distribution of bushmeat in Zogbodomey municipality

“…Firstly, late evisceration leads to deterioration in the quality of a carcass because germs present in the viscera, particularly the abdominal ones, can easily pass on to a carcass. Secondly, washing with insufficient water does not allow processors to rid meat of exogenous contaminants and stomach contents, which exposes meat to high contamination [44]. Indeed, the evisceration process plays an important role in contamination, because feces contain high quantities of coliforms [45].…”

“…However, the presence of some of these diseases has not been reported in Benin and the most recorded zoonoses are Lassa fever and coronavirus disease [21,[50][51][52]. Unlike processors using Practice 1, processors using Practice 2 brushed carcasses with blood before smoking instead of washing after evisceration and this attitude exposed such carcasses to additional contamination because blood is a rich medium for microorganisms [44]. The penultimate step was smoking common to operators of both practices.…”