Association between slaughter practices and the distribution of Salmonella, ESBL/AMPC-producing Escherichia coli and hygiene indicator bacteria on pig carcasses after slaughter

Pigs are well-known asymptomatic carriers of foodborne pathogens, which may contaminate pork carcasses during slaughter. Several pig body parts (e.g. the oral cavity, the palatine tonsils and the gastro-intestinal tract) are natural reservoirs of bacteria, including important human pathogens such as Salmonella. The contamination level of a pig carcass is generally expressed as one value for the whole carcass. However, contamination levels may vary between different carcass areas

Exploring the risk factors for Salmonella in the ten biggest Belgian pig slaughterhouses

The goal of this work is to identify the risk factors related to Salmonella in the porcine die at the stage of the slaughterhouse. Thanks to investigations carried out into the ten biggest Belgian slaughterhouses, data concerning the manufacturing process and the working methods were gathered. Moreover, an access to the microbiological results carried out on these companies within the framework of the official plans of monitoring was asked to the Belgian Food Agency. A data base allowing to test the influence of risk factors on the presence of Salmonella was established. To quantify a relation between a risk factor and the presence of Salmonella, statistical methods such as the logistic regressions were used

Effect of pluck set removal techniques during slaughter on pig carcass contamination with hygiene indicator bacteria, ESBL/AMPC-producing E. coli, Salmonella and Yersinia enterocolitica

Pigs are asymptomatic carriers of pathogenic and antibiotic resistant bacteria, which may contaminate pig carcasses during slaughter. Especially opening the oral cavity during pluck set (i.e. lungs, heart, liver, and tongue) removal is a potential risk for spreading bacteria over the carcass

Comparison of different enrichment media for the isolation of Salmonella from naturally infected slaughter pigs

The present study aimed to assess the impact of different enrichment media, Reppaport-vassiliadis (RV) broth, Rappaport-Vassiliadis Soya (RVS) broth, Diagnostic semi-solid Salmonella (DIA) agar, Simple Method Salmonella (SMS) agar, Modified Semisolid Rappaport Vassiliadis (MSRV) agar and Mueller Kauffmann Tetrathionate novobiocin (MKTTn) broth, on the detection of Salmonella as well as on the isolated serotype and genotype

Evaluation of risk based microbiological criteria for Campylobacter in broiler carcasses in Belgium using TRiMiCri

Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently reported foodborne zoonosis worldwide. Consumer´s exposure to Campylobacter might be reduced by establishing a microbiological criterion (MC) for Campylobacter on broiler meat. In the present study two possible approaches were evaluated, using the freely available software tool for risk based microbiological criteria TRiMiCri (http://tools.food.dtu.dk/trimicri). The first approach was the traditional one that implies a microbiological limit (ML-MC) and the second one which is based on the relative risk estimate (RRL-MC). The analyses were based on Campylobacter quantitative data collected from 28 Campylobacter positive bathes processed in 6 Belgian broiler slaughterhouses. To evaluate the performance of ML-MC, n=6, different c (0,1,2) and m (100,1 000,10 000) were used. Results showed that more than 90% of Campylobacter positive batches were not complying with strict ML criteria based on the m=100 for all applied combination of c. The RRL approach requires a baseline risk which was estimated based on the Campylobacter baseline data collected in Belgium in 2008. Approximately 60% of evaluated Campylobacter positive batches account for higher risk than the baseline risk. For both approaches, application of less stringent criteria results in lower percentage of NC and higher minimum relative residual risks (MRRR; it refers to the change in risk when all batches are sampled and all NC batches undergo treatment that effectively eliminates Campylobacter so they are replaced by zero risk batches). It was also observed that the number of samples (n) had little effect on risk estimates. Additionally, the results from ML-MC and RRL-MC follow the same curve when plotting percentage of NC against MRRR. However, for RRL-MC the percentage of NC batches and MRRR was lower and higher, respectively. To conclude, obtained results indicate that TRiMiCri is a useful and user friendly tool to make a risk based decision on the choice of the MC