Cleanliness of slaughter cattle - a pilot study in Austria

Publikationen als Autor:in / Herausgeber:in der Vetmeduni

Troxler, Josef; Paulsen, Peter

Abstrakt

Introduction Faecal contamination of slaughter cattle poses a serious problem for slaughter hygiene and is an indicator of management deficiencies in primary production. European Union legislation requires cattle to be sufficiently "clean" before slaughter but there is no Union-wide consensus on how to assess cleanliness. We present the results of a study on the extent and intensity of faecal contamination of cattle admitted to slaughter in a mid-scale abattoir in Austria. Materials and Methods On six working days, 260 cattle were visually assessed for cleanliness of hides. Assessment was undertaken after exsanguination but before skinning. The extent and intensity of contamination was classified according to the 5-grade scheme (1 clean 5 extremely soiled) of the UK Meat Hygiene Service (MHS). Assessments took place in August (2 days, 34 % of carcasses), October (2 days, 45 % of carcasses) and December-January (2 days, 21 % of carcasses). Data on sex, age, provenance and stable design were provided by the owner of the abattoir. Results Most cattle were fattening bulls (60.8 %). The 260 animals originated from 37 farms (median 5 animals / farm) and most animals had been kept on slatted floors (75 %). Contamination with wet faeces was recorded for 7.3 % of the carcasses in the ventral neck region, for 38.8 % in the brisket, for 24.2 % on the flanks, for 23.5 % in the carpal joint/metacarpus, for 22.7 % in the tarsal joint/metatarsus and for 19.2 % in the perianal region. The corresponding figures for contamination with dry faeces were 5.5; 32.7; 29.6; 48.1; 50.0 and 36.2 %. On the MHS scheme, 8.9 % of carcasses were assigned to class 1, 30.8 % to class 2; 36.5 % to class 3; 19.6 to class 4 and 4.2 % to class 5. The importance of straw bedding in preventing faecal contamination was studied for fattening bulls (the majority of the animals). Fattening bulls from a holding without straw or bedding material were 3.8 times as likely (95% CI: 1.6-8.9; p=0.0024) to be classified as heavily contaminated (grades 4 and 5 of the MHS scheme). As contamination was assessed after stunning, it is possible that transport, lairage and stunning contributed to the overall wet contamination. Conclusion Faecal contamination was frequently recorded in the ventromedian areas of slaughter cattle. Care should be taken during skinning to avoid contaminating meat.

Dokumententyp

Originalarbeit

WoS ID

WOS:000513075200010