Arcobacter contamination on pre- and post-chilled bovine carcasses and in minced beef at retail

The present study aimed to assess the Arcobacter contamination on bovine carcasses postevisceration and postcooling in two slaughterhouses and in ready-to-eat minced beef.

Carcasses (n = 247) were sampled at four sites in two slaughterhouses and 100 minced beef samples were collected at retail. Isolation was performed by a quantitative and qualitative Arcobacter selective method, and the isolates were identified by multiplex PCR, after which a part of them were characterized by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR. Although arcobacters were isolated from 37% of the bovine carcasses postevisceration with the chest and the foreleg as most contaminated sites, cooling the carcasses for at least 24 h reduced the incidence of Arcobacter (7%) on the carcass surface significantly. Arcobacter butzleri was the species most frequently isolated, although co-contamination with multiple species also occurred. At retail, arcobacters were present in 9% of the minced beef samples, with Arcobacter butzleri as the dominant species.

Forced air cooling of bovine carcasses for at least 24 h decreased the number of positive carcasses, but did not eliminate all arcobacters.

This study demonstrates that maintaining good hygiene practices throughout the food supply chain is crucial to ensure safe food products at the consumer level.