Evaluation of carcass hygiene in sheep subjected to gas de-pelting with different skinning procedures

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the hygienic status of sheep carcasses skinned with two different procedures, the pulling down and Y cut methods, with and without the use of compressed filtered air inflation. Five sheep carcasses per day for each of the four skinning methods considered were sampled on ten different slaughtering days using wet and dry swab techniques at a local abattoir specialised in ovine slaughtering. A pool of four different sampling sites (brisket, shoulder, thorax and rump) was considered for each animal. Furthermore, ten animals were also randomly selected on different slaughtering days for each of the four skinning techniques and the four sampling sites were separately swabbed and analysed in each animal. The total viable count (TVC) and Enterobacte riaceae count were performed and the presence of Salmonella spp. was also tested. The daily average mean value of each parameter was in compliance with limits set by Regulation (EC) 1441/2007, falling into satisfactory or acceptable category for Enterobacteriaceae and within the acceptable level range for TVC for both the methods used with and without air de-pelting. For both TVC and Enterobacteriaceae count, no statistically significant differences (P>0.05) were recorded between samples obtained from carcasses skinned with and without air inflation for either of the skinning methods used and any of the sites sampled. No Salmonella spp. were detected in any of the tested samples. Nonetheless, no improvement in the carcass hygiene was detected either and, for this reason, other aspects should be taken into consideration when considering adopting the gas de-pelting method.

Improving Hunted Wild Boar Carcass Hygiene: Roles of Different Factors Involved in the Harvest Phase

“…Furthermore, the ACC and ENT levels are in line with those reported for "farmed" animals (bovine and swine) [34,35] and values suggested as acceptable by EU legislation criteria for hygiene processes (acceptable levels in swine between 4.0 and 5.0 log CFU/cm 2 for ACC and between 2.0 and 3.0 log CFU/cm 2 for ENT) [34]. Indeed, 6 and 12 samples out of 120 sampled carcasses (7.2% and 14.4% prevalence) exceeded the acceptable level set by EU legislation for ACC and ENT respectively [36].…”

Effects of Animal, Climatic, Hunting and Handling Conditions on the Hygienic Characteristics of Hunted Roe Doer (Caprelous capreolus L.)

“…Despite these criteria, which are implemented to evaluate the slaughtering hygiene during a period of time and pools of different carcasses during the same day taken into consideration in the EC Regulation [ 11 ], these findings confirm that the procedures adopted during hunting on the carcasses, if properly and hygienically implemented, could be as hygienic as at the slaughterhouse level [ 19 , 25 , 26 ]. Furthermore, the results registered are close to those of slaughtered animals, such as ovine [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Nontyphoid Salmonella Prevalence, Serovar Distribution and Antimicrobial Resistance in Slaughter Sheep

“…Additionally, there was less fecal contamination risk during evisceration due to the natural pellet form of sheep feces, which does not stick and smear to the carcass. Previous studies have indicated the absence (Kuma et al, 2017;Ranucci et al, 2014) or presence (Duffy et al, 2010;Stipetic et al, 2016;Tekelu and Negussie, 2011) of Salmonella in sheep carcasses. Differences observed in prevalence rates in these studies were reported to arise from the general hygiene status of slaughterhouses; whether slaughtering is applied in monorail conveyors or on the floor; sheep's initial pathogen carriage rate, increasing risk of shedding during transport stress leading to higher fecal contamination of carcass, and differences in sensitivity of Salmonella detection procedures.…”

“…Additionally, the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) Regulation on Microbiological Criteria (TFC, 2011) has zero tolerance for the detection of Salmonella from ovine carcasses assessed with EN/ISO 6579 (ISO, 2002) as the reference method. Accordingly, several studies have reported Salmonella prevalence in sheep carcasses (0%-26.7%) (Kuma et al, 2017;Ranucci et al, 2014;Stipetic et al, 2016), in fecal samples (0%-26.90%) (Dargatz et al, 2015;Hanlon et al, 2018;McAuley et al, 2014), in edible organs such as liver (0.9%-4.3%) and spleen (0%-2.27%) (Kuma et al, 2017;Molla et al, 2006;Woldemariam et al, 2005), in gallbladder (3%) (Zubair and Ibrahim, 2012) and in mesenteric lymph nodes (3.85%-13.6%) (Hanlon et al, 2018;Kuma et al, 2017;Tadesse and Tessema, 2014), where S. Typhimurium was reported as the predominant serovar regardless of the sample type.…”