Evaluation of the Sanitary Conditions of Head Meat, Esophagus, Diaphragm Meat, and Boning Scrap Processing

Abstract

Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms, and Escherichia coli counts are important hygiene indicators and may be pathogenic. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine microbiological contamination in head meat, the esophagus, diaphragm, and boning scraps and evaluate the hygienic conditions of the processing of these products. The Petrifilm5 (3M) method for determining Enterobacteriaceae, total coliforms, and E. coli was applied for 104 samples. APHA, European Union, PAHO/WHO, and Brazil/MAPA recommendations were followed. Bleeding and skinning knives were contaminated with E. coli (61.5%). Regarding the meat cuts, 30.76% samples from head meat, the esophagus and the boning flap showed the presence of E. coli in counts up to 2 log CFU/g, while 15.3% of the diaphragm samples showed up to 1.85 log CFU/g. The analyzed comminuted meat was, therefore, shown to be contaminated with E. coli during processing, indicating that end-products from this raw material can offer biological risks.

Serotypes and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella isolated from fresh beef processing and chilled fresh beef samples produced and marketed in the metropolitan region of Cuiab, in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…In this context, microbiological evaluations performed on utensils, environment, and carcasses of cattle, pigs, and sheep in the slaughterhouse of Australia (Bakhtiary et al, 2016), in Mato Grosso (Santos et al, 2017) and Rio de Janeiro (Cabral et al, 2014), Brazil have been reported. In these studies, the occurrence of microorganisms was observed which are indicators of fecal contamination, belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family, species such as Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica in utensils, environment, and carcasses indicating hygiene problems in the slaughter process.…”

Shiga‐toxin Producing Escherichia coli: Pathogenicity, Supershedding, Diagnostic Methods, Occurrence, and Foodborne Outbreaks

“…Regarding beef products, the main contamination step occurs during hide removal, and several studies suggest that initial operation failures are responsible for the contamination of the final product (Elder and others ; Barkocy‐Gallagher and others ; Brichta‐Harhay and others ; Santos and others ). In addition, contamination may be present in fresh products, such as sprouts and lettuce, due to contamination from the use of manure or contaminated water‐based fertilizers (Verhaegen and others ).…”

Hygienic sanitary conditions of vacuum packed beef produced by slaughterhouses qualified for export in the Mato Grosso state, Brazil

“…This is currently especially true because of the recent events of the so-called "weak meat operation" that raised doubts about Brazilian meat safety. Thus, studies are being conducted to characterize and evaluate the contamination of this type of product in Brazil (SANTOS, et al 2017).…”