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Washing and chilling as critical control points in pork slaughter hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)
D J Bolton1, R A Pearce, J J Sheridan
1The National Food Centre, Teagasc, Dunsinea, Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland. dbolton@nfc.teagasc.ie
Aims:
The aim of this research was to examine the effects of preslaughter washing, pre-evisceration washing, final carcass washing and chilling on final carcass quality and to evaluate these operations as possible critical control points (CCPs) within a pork slaughter hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) system.
Methods And Results:
This study estimated bacterial numbers (total viable counts) and the incidence of Salmonella at three surface locations (ham, belly and neck) on 60 animals/carcasses processed through a small commercial pork abattoir (80 pigs d(-1)). Significant reductions (P < 0.05) in bacterial numbers were noted at some stages of the slaughter/dressing process, i.e. the process of hair removal (scalding-dehairing and singeing) resulted in an approx. 4.5 log10 cfu cm(-2) decrease in bacterial numbers. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in bacterial numbers was observed after pre-evisceration washing. Final washing increased the bacterial counts to between 3.6 and 3.8 log10 cfu cm(-2) while chilling effected a small but statistically significant (P < 0.05) increase to between 4.5 and 4.7 log10 cfu cm(-2). The incidence of Salmonella on pigs at the farm was 27%, decreasing to 10% after preslaughter washing. However, stunning and bleeding effected a considerable increase in Salmonella contamination and the incidence after these operations was 50%, which was reduced to 0% during the scalding-dehairing process.
Conclusions:
Washing the live animals and subsequent carcasses with cold water is not an effective control measure but chilling may be used as a CCP.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
Recent changes in European Union legislation legally mandate HACCP in pork slaughter plants. This research will provide a sound scientific basis on which to develop and implement effective HACCP in pork abattoirs.
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