Assessment of the bacteriological quality of poultry carcases prepared in an industrial poultry slaughterhouse

Abstract

The present work was undertaken to evaluate the actual status of hygiene in an industrial scale poultry slaughter house, using bacterial analyses of broiler carcasses obtained just after slaughter handling. A total of 32 carcasses were swabbed, during a period of two mounths, using the technique of double swabbing (cm2) in three sites: the neck, cloaca and sternal regions. Bacteriological analyses involved counting of total microflora, psycrotrophic microflora and fecal indicators microorganisms. Qualitative screening for the pathogens Salmonella and Yersinia enterocolitica was also addressed. The mean bacterial loads of all microflora studied were similar or lower than those found in poultry carcasses prepared intraditional slaughterhouses. Also, the present work showed significant variation in bacterial load between the three sites swabbed from the same carcass. Overall, the neck was found to be the most contaminated site, followed by the cloaca and sternal regions. In contrast, no Salmonella or Yersinia enterocolitica was isolated from the carcasses analyzed.

Keys words: Hygiene, Slaughter houses, Bacteriological analyse, Poultry carcasses