Studies on the hygienic status of animal carcasses and their contact surfaces in some butchery shops

Wageh Sobhy Darwish, Amira Samir Atia and Ahmed Elsayed Tharwat

Abstract

Cross-contamination of animal carcasses and their contact surfaces at any stage of meat handling is one major aspect in production of meat of high keeping quality. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the hygienic status of the animal carcasses (cattle, buffaloes, camel and sheep) and their contact surfaces (cutting boards, walls, knives, and butcher hands) in butchery shops among urban and rural areas in Sharkia province, Egypt. Microbial indicators for the hygienic measures adopted at butchery shops including total bacterial counts (TBC), total Enterobacteriacae counts (TEC), most probable number (MPN) of coliforms, total Staphylococcus aureus counts (TSC), total mould counts (TMC) and total yeast counts (TYC) were investigated. The results achieved in this study declared that cross-contamination of animal carcasses and their contact surfaces is well-observed and should be considered as an important factor that should be included in the microbiological risk assessments. Therefore, we recommend adoption of strict hygienic measures in all handling steps of animal carcasses.

Key words

Butchery shops, animal carcasses, hygienic measures