“…Animals subjected to pre-slaughter stress during transportation and/or lairaige produce meat of higher pH (>5.70) that translates into better conditions for microbial growth. Furthermore, immediately after slaughtering, when the muscle tissue is exposed, it may be contaminated by deteriorative bacteria from the hide's normal microbiota (staphylococci, micrococci, pseudomonads, molds and yeasts) as well as from faecal origin bacteria (Martineli et al, 2009). Hooves, hide, hair, fleece and guts are considered the most important sources of microbial contamination on flayed carcasses (Bell and Hathway, 1996), but there are potential sources of contamination such as equipments, utensils and operators (Sierra et al, 1995).…”