The relationship between hygiene assessment system audit scores and the bacteriological status of single species red meat abattoirs in the Free State province

Published ThesisThe Hygiene Assessment System (HAS) is an audit checklist that is used to measure the hygiene status of the abattoir. The final HAS score for individual abattoirs is graded to a sum of 100, and is interpreted as a measurement of the potential risk to public health. Theoretically, the final HAS score reflects the likelihood of safe meat being produced in that specific abattoir on the day of audit. The aim of the study was to test the association between the HAS scores and the bacteriological contamination in six single species high throughput abattoirs in the Free State province. This was done to validate the efficiency of the HAS score as a measure for meat safety and to determine the extent to which HAS audit score and bacteriological tests mirror each other. Each abattoir was visited once and the audit was performed according to official HAS: four carcasses were sampled at four different carcass sites at three processing stations; and ten direct air samples were collected from the slaughter floors. All the abattoirs showed compliance with the meat safety legislation since the total HAS scores ranged from 68 to 94. However, it was found that the effectiveness of HAS audits as a measure of food safety was questionable, since it does not demonstrate the risk/impact of non-compliance. The microbiological analysis for both carcass and air samples included the test for aerobic plate count (APC), Escherichia coli, Salmonella species and Staphylococcus aureus. The APC for the abattoirs ranged from undetectable to 9.9 x 104 CFU.m-2 for carcass surfaces and 0 to 2.4 x 102 CFU.m-3 for bioaerosols. The total count for E. coli, S. aureus and Salmonella species exceeded the national maximum acceptable limits. These results highlight the possibility of the occurrence of foodborne diseases in the human population. In addition the relationship between E. coli, S. aureus, Salmonella spp, APC, and total HAS score, revealed no significant relationship. These findings further justify the fact that HAS audits should not be used as a measure of meat safety. The results also suggest the importance of the inclusion of bacterial tests in meat safety audits because a high HAS score does not signify that meat is entirely safe for human consumption

Knowledge synthesis: Animal health and welfare in organic pig production - Final Report COREPIG

This report reviews the available information on the welfare of pigs when maintained according to organic standards in Europe. It begins by overviewing the populations of organic pigs in different countries at the time of writing (2007), the organic standards which govern their management and the systems in which they are typically kept. It then reviews for each stage in the production cycle (sows, suckling piglets, weaned pigs and fattening pigs) the available literature on health and welfare problems which might be experienced by the animals and the hazards which might give rise to these problems. Finally the report reviews the methods current available for the measurement of pig health and welfare and the extent to which monitoring systems currently exist in different countries, or might be developed. The information gathered in this review formed the basis for the subsequent development of tools for use in a HACCP based management and surveillance system for organic pig herds. These tools will assist the organic pig farmer to prevent selected pig diseases and welfare problems by monitoring and controlling the risk factors. Further details can be found on the COREPIG project website www.icrofs.org/coreorganic/corepig.htm

Growth and survival of exponential and stationary phase Salmonella during sausage fermentation

When raw meat is contaminated with enteropathogens, the growth state may appear in a mixture of phases. Survival for exponential and stationary phase cells differs, with stationary phase cells being generally more resistant. Our aim of this study was to investigate the survival of exponential and stationary phase Salmonella during freezing and to follow the survival/growth of these cells during subsequent sausage fermentation. Minced meat was inoculated with exponential and stationary phase Salmonella Thyphimurium, respectively, and frozen at -20ºC for up to 35 days. The meat was thawed overnight at 5ºC prior to sausage production

A novel strategy to obtain quantitative data for modelling: Combined enrichment and real-time PCR for enumeration of salmonellae from pig carcasses

The primary sources for the major zoonotic pathogen Salmonella are food-producing animals such as pigs and poultry. For risk assessment and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) concepts, it is essential to produce large amounts of quantitative data, which is currently not achievable with the standard cultural based methods for enumeration of Salmonella

Quantifying the effect of natural microflora on growth of salmonellae in fresh pork

This study was undertaken to provide predictive models to help prevent health problems in relation to salmonellae in fresh pork. The models consider different time and temperature of storage as well as microbial interaction with the natural microflora in the meat. At six temperatures between 4 and 20°C, duplicate growth curves of Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 and Salmonella Derby were established in both sterile (irradiated) minced pork as well as in minced pork with a natural microflora