Significance of Samples Taken for Bacterial Counts from Reduced Areas of Bovine Carcasses

The purpose of this study was to investigate if small sampling areas (10 and 100 cm²) from bovine carcasses allowed obtaining bacterial counts that were characteristic of the hygiene level in abattoirs during the slaughtering process and, as a consequence, to know the hygiene level of the carcasses. Two abattoirs were classified according to the infrastructure and the operations as Good (G) and Fair (F). At these abattoirs, samples were taken from two sites (brisket and round), from two sampling areas (10 and 100 cm² for each site), corresponding to nine carcasses per visit. Each abattoir was visited five times. The count of total viable microorganisms at 20°C was taken as an indicator of the microorganisms present. The differences between abattoirs, considering the sites, were not statistically significant. On the other hand, the differences between areas sampled (10 and 100 cm²) were significant and showed that the count will depend on the size of the area sampled. The conclusion is that small sampling areas are not adequate to evaluate the hygiene of bovine carcasses.