Comparing the Microbial Load on Hide and Beef Carcasses at Minna Abattoir

Abstract

The hide, viscera and faeces of cattle entering the slaughter facility all serve as sources of contamination to the carcass. In this study, animal carcasses at the Minna abattoir, Nigeria, were sampled at the hock, brisket, bung, cranial back and inside round sites. Samples were analyzed for microbiological qualities and numbers between the three cattle cleanliness categories (2) clean, (3) dirty, and (5) very dirty, hence total viable counts (TVC) were taken. The hock harbored aerobic heterotrophic bacteria (2.1  105 - 7.0  106 cfu/ml), bung (2.5  105 - 1.1  107 cfu/ml) and the inside round (3.1  105 - 1.9  107 cfu/ml). The TVC at the brisket were significantly higher on category 5 (2.0  105 cfu/ml) than on category 2 (1.6  105 cfu/ml) carcasses. There were no significant differences between TVC of categories 3 and 5 at the cranial back. Analysis of TVC for each category averaged over the five sites showed that TVC on category 5 carcasses were significantly higher than category 2 carcasses with less significant difference between TVC of categories 3 and 5. Based on the result of this study, it is recommended that there be establishment of standard slaughtering facilities.