Microbiological Decontamination of Food Animal Carcasses by Washing and Sanitizing Systems: A Review

Microbial contamination of animal carcasses is a result of the necessary procedures required to process live animals into retail meat. The contamination can be minimized by good manufacturing processes, but the total elimination of foodborne pathogenic microorganisms is difficult, if not impossible. A variety of methods have been developed to reduce the levels of contaminating bacteria on carcasses, although most of the current methods focus on washing and sanitizing procedures. The commonly used sanitizing agents include hot water, chlorine, and short-chain organic acids. The effectiveness of these compounds varies by the concentration used, the temperature of the sanitizers and contact time, the sensitivity of the native microflora to the specific compound, and to a certain extent the design of the specific experiments. The consensus of the research is that carcass sanitizing can reduce the initial levels of bacteria on the surface of the carcass.