Preselection of finishing pigs on the farm as an aid for meat inspection

Abstract

SUMMARYThe ability of pig suppliers to separate pigs with abnormalities from pigs without abnormalities at the end of the finishing period was investigated Nineteen hundred and seventy-eight pigs, delivered by 22 pig suppliers, were involved in the experiment The pigs were inspected on the farm by the pig supplier and separately, by a veterinary expert The animals were sent in 22 deliveries to one slaughterhouse. A veterinary meat inspector carried out the ante-and post-mortem inspections. The results of the inspections were compared The measure of agreement,

Scientific Opinion on the public health hazards to be covered by inspection of meat (swine)

“…Work has been undertaken, in several countries, to evaluate the use of farm-level health information for meat inspection purposes. In the Netherlands (Snijders et al, 1989;Harbers et al, 1992a), a study was conducted evaluating the utility of Quality Information Cards (QUIC; capturing data on health and drug use problems) accompanying shipments of pigs to slaughter. Their value was relatively limited, with a low predictive value for abnormalities such as arthritis, liver condemnation and lung lesions.…”

Assessment of producer conducted antemortem inspection of market pigs in Australia

“…2,14 If the stress of disease or injury in suspects increases faecal shedding, then this could be increasing the risk of contamination of hides and subsequently meat with microbial hazards. 15 Harbers et al 16 demonstrated that there were more gross abnormalities in pigs classified as suspects than in normal pigs and, without any training, producers were able to find more suspects than abattoir antemortem inspectors. If abattoir antemortem inspection were enhanced by the addition of producer-conducted antemortem inspection on-farm, then the removal or segregation of high-risk stock is likely to be improved.…”

“…If abattoir antemortem inspection were enhanced by the addition of producer-conducted antemortem inspection on-farm, then the removal or segregation of high-risk stock is likely to be improved. 2,16 Benefits could include reduced likelihood of cross-contamination of other pigs by cleaning in-contact surfaces and equipment before resuming the slaughter of apparently healthy pigs. Improved slaughter chain efficiencies are possible by scheduling extra inspectors and skilled trimmers during the processing of suspect pigs to maintain normal chain speed.…”

“…Improved slaughter chain efficiencies are possible by scheduling extra inspectors and skilled trimmers during the processing of suspect pigs to maintain normal chain speed. This paper describes an Australian field trial which was modelled on the study conducted in the Netherlands, 16 but which also included training of producers to conduct antemortem inspection on-farm. The trial aimed to verify the earlier findings 16 under Australian production and abattoir conditions.…”

Comparison of two different meat inspection techniques

“…In Denmark 'traditional' and 'visual' meat inspection systems, were compared by Mousing et al (13) and Willeberg et al using data from 183, 383 slaughter pigs (14,15). In the Netherlands the group of Harbers et al investigated the interrelationship between data from the farm of origin and the results of meat inspection (5,6,8,10) and the technique of inspection (5,7,9).…”