[en] Several bacterial indicators are used to evaluate the hygiene of the meat slaughtering process. The objectives of this study were to assess the Belgian baseline of hygienic indicators and the relationship between the indicators and zoonotic agents, in order to establish hygiene indicator criteria for carcasses and meat of beef, pork and poultry. The study used the results from the official Belgian surveillance plan from 2000 to 2003, which included the monitoring of counts for E. coli (ECC), Enterobacteriaceae (EC), aerobic colonies (ACC) and Pseudomonas. The sampling method was the wet and dry swabbing technique for beef and pork carcasses, and neck skin excision for chicken and layer carcasses. The 75th and 95th percentiles of ECC were –0.20 and 0.95 log cfu/cm2 for beef carcasses, 1.20 and 2.32 log cfu/cm2 for pork carcasses, and 4.05 and 5.24 log cfu/g for chicken carcasses. The aerobic colony counts were between 2.1 and 4.5 log cfu/cm2 or /g higher than those of ECC for cattle, pork and poultry. For beef and pork carcasses, a significant correlation between ECC, EC and ACC was shown between each parameter. ECC (for pork and beef samples), and EC (in pork carcasses) were detected at significantly higher levels in samples contaminated with Salmonella. In poultry samples, ECC were in general higher for samples containing Salmonella or Campylobacter. This study showed that E. coli may be considered as a good indicator for enteric zoonotic agents such as Salmonella for beef, pork and poultry, and Campylobacter in poultry meat samples.
Disciplines :
Food science
Author, co-author :
Ghafir, Y.
China, B.
Dierick, K.
De Zutter, L.
Daube, Georges ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de sciences des denrées alimentaires > Microbiologie des denrées alimentaires
Language :
English
Title :
Hygiene indicator microorganisms for selected pathogens on beef, pork and poultry meats in Belgium.
Publication date :
2008
Journal title :
Journal of Food Protection
ISSN :
0362-028X
eISSN :
1944-9097
Publisher :
International Association for Food Protection, Des Moines, United States - Iowa
Volume :
71
Pages :
35-45
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
AFSCA - Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire [BE]
Anonymous. 1996. Pathogen reduction: hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems, final rule. U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service. Fed. Regist. 61:38805-38989.
Anonymous. 1998. NF-V04-504. Viandes et produits à base de viande. Dénombrement des Pseudomonas. Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR), La Plaine Saint-Denis, France.
Anonymous. 1999. NF-V08-051. Microbiologie des aliments. Dénombrement des microorganismes par comptage des colonies obtenues à 30 degrés Celcius - méthode de routine. Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR), La Plaine Saint-Denis, France.
Anonymous. 1999. NF-V08-054. Microbiologie des aliments. Dénombrement des entérobactéries par comptage des colonies obtenues à 30 degrés Celcius - méthode de routine. Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR), La Plaine Saint-Denis, France.
Anonymous. 2001. Commission Decision 2001/471/EC of 8 June 2001 laying down rules for the regular checks on the general hygiene carried out by the operators in establishments according to Directive 64/433/EEC on health conditions for the production and marketing of fresh meat and Directive 71/118/EEC on health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of fresh poultry meat. Off. J. Eur. Union L165:48-53.
Anonymous. 2002. Arrêté royal du 28 août 2002 modifiant l'arrêté royal du 4 juillet 1996 relatif aux conditions générales et spéciales d'exploitation des abattoirs et d'autres établissements. Moniteur Belge 14/09/2002, 2:40882-40894.
Anonymous. 2003. Directive 2003/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents, amending Council Decision 90/424/EEC and repealing Council Directive 92/117/EEC. Off. J. Eur. Union L325:31-40.
Anonymous. 2003. ISO 17604. Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs - carcass sampling for microbiological analysis. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva.
Anonymous. 2003. Regulation (EC) no. 2160/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the control of Salmonella and other specified foodborne zoonotic agents. Off. J. Eur. Union L325:1-15.
Anonymous. 2005. Commission Regulation (EC) no. 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Off. J. Eur. Union L338:1-26.
Anonymous. 2005. ISO 17025. General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva.
Berrang, M. E., S. R. Ladely, and R. J. Buhr. 2001. Presence and level of Campylobacter, coliforms, Escherichia coli, and total aerobic bacteria recovered from broiler parts with and without skin. J. Food Prot. 64:184-188.
Byrne, B., G. Dunne, J. Lyng, and D. J. Bolton. 2005. Microbiological carcass sampling methods to achieve compliance with 2001/471/EC and new hygiene regulations. Res. Microbiol. 156:104-106.
Capita, R., M. Prieto, and C. Alonso-Calleja. 2004. Sampling methods for microbiological analysis of red meat and poultry carcasses. J. Food Prot. 67:1303-1308.
Cason, J. A., M. E. Berrang, R. J. Buhr, and N. A. Cox. 2004. Effect of prechill fecal contamination on numbers of bacteria recovered from broiler chicken carcasses before and after immersion chilling. J. Food Prot. 67:1829-1833.
Chahed, A., Y. Ghafir, B. China, K. Dierick, L. De Zutter, D. Piérard, and G. Daube. 2005. Survey of the contamination of foodstuffs from animal origin by Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in Belgium from 1999 to 2003. Euro Surveill. 10:33-36.
Churchill, G. A., and R. W. Doerge. 1994. Empirical threshold values for quantitative trait mapping. Genetics 138:963-971.
De Zutter, L., R. Abrams, and J. Van Hoof. 1982. Bacteriological survey of beef carcasses: correlation between swab and maceration method. Arch. Lebensmittelhyg. 33:33-56.
Dorsa, W. J., C. N. Cutter, and G. R. Siragusa. 1996. Evaluation of six sampling methods for recovery of bacteria from beef carcass surfaces. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 22:39-41.
Duffy, E. A., K. E. Bel, J. N. Sofos, G. R. Bellinger, A. Pape, and G. C. Smith. 2001. Extent of microbial contamination in United States pork retail products. J. Food Prot. 64:172-178.
Ghafir, Y., B. China, K. Dierick, L. De Zutter, and G. Daube. 2007. A seven-year survey of Campylobacter contamination in meat at different production stages in Belgium. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 116:111-120.
Ghafir, Y., B. China, N. Korsak, K. Dierick, J.-M. Collard, C. Godard, L. De Zutter, and G. Daube. 2005. Belgian surveillance plans to assess changes in Salmonella prevalence in meat at different production stages. J. Food Prot. 68:2269-2277.
Gill, C. O., and T. Jones. 2000. Microbiological sampling of carcasses by excision or swabbing. J. Food Prot. 63:167-173.
Hutchison, M. L., L. D. Walters, S. M. Avery, C. A. Reid, D. Wilson, M. Howell, A. M. Johnston, and S. Buncic. 2005. A comparison of wet-dry swabbing and excision sampling methods for microbiological testing of bovine, porcine, and ovine carcasses at red meat slaughterhouses. J. Food Prot. 68:2155-2162.
Hutchison, M. L., L. D. Walters, G. C. Mead, M. Howell, and V. M. Allen. 2006. An assessment of sampling methods and microbiological hygiene indicators for process verification in poultry slaughterhouses. J. Food Prot. 69:145-153.
Jay, J. M., J. P. Vilai, and M. E. Hughes. 2003. Profile and activity of the bacterial biota of ground beef held from freshness to spoilage at 5-7°C. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 81:105-111.
Korsak, N., G. Daube, Y. Ghafir, A. Chahed, S. Jolly, and H. Vindevogel. 1998. An efficient sampling technique used to detect four foodborne pathogens on pork and beef carcasses in nine Belgian abattoirs. J. Food Prot. 61:535-541.
Kotula, K. L., and Y. Pandya. 1995. Bacteria contamination of broiler chickens before scalding. J. Food Prot. 58:1326-1329.
McEvoy, J. M., J. J. Sheridan, I. S. Blair, and D. A. McDowell. 2004. Microbial contamination on beef in relation to hygiene assessment based on criteria used in EU Decision 2001/471/EC. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 92:217-225.
Mead, G. C., W. R. Hudson, and M. H. Hinton. 1993. Microbiological survey of five poultry processing plants in the UK. Br. Poult. Sci. 34:497-503.
Miraglia, D., D. Ranucci, V. D'Ovidio, R. Branciari, and M. Severini. 2005. Comparison between carcass microbial load recovered by swabbing surfaces of different size and using the reference excision method. Vet. Res. Commun. 29(Suppl. 2):339-341.
Murray, K. A., A. Gilmour, and R. H. Madden. 2001. Microbiological quality of chilled beef carcasses in Northern Ireland: a baseline survey. J. Food Prot. 64:498-502.
Pepperell, R., C. A. Reid, S. N. Solano, M. L. Hutchison, L. D. Walters, A. M. Johnston, and S. Buncic. 2005. Experimental comparison of excision and swabbing microbiological sampling methods for carcasses. J. Food Prot. 68:2163-2168.
Phillips, D., J. Sumner, J. F. Alexander, and K. M. Dutton. 2001. Microbiological quality of Australian beef. J. Food Prot. 64:692-696.
Ransom, J. R., K. E. Belk, R. T. Bacon, J. N. Sofos, J. A. Scanga, and G. C. Smith. 2002. Comparison of sampling methods for microbiological testing of beef animal rectal/colonal feces, hides, and carcasses. J. Food Prot. 65:621-626.
Ray, B. 2001. Indicators of bacterial pathogens, p. 409-417. In B. Ray (ed.), Fundamental food microbiology, 2nd ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.
Scanga, J. A., A. D. Grona, K. E. Belk, J. N. Sofos, G. R. Bellinger, and G. C. Smith. 2000. Microbiological contamination of raw beef trimmings and ground beef. Meat Sci. 56:145-152.
Sofos, J. N., S. L. Kochevar, G. R. Bellinger, D. R. Buege, D. D. Hancock, S. C. Ingham, J. B. Morgan, J. O. Reagan, and G. C. Smith. 1999. Sources and extent of microbiological contamination of beef carcasses in seven United States slaughtering plants. J. Food Prot. 62:140-145.
Sofos, J. N., S. L. Kochevar, J. O. Reagan, and G. C. Smith. 1999. Incidence of Salmonella on beef carcasses relating to U.S. meat and poultry inspection regulations. J. Food Prot. 62:467-473.
Vanderlinde, P., I. Jenson, and J. Sumner. 2005. Using national microbiological data to set meaningful performance criteria for slaughter and dressing of animals at Australian export abattoirs. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 104:155-159.
Vanderlinde, P. B., B. Shay, and J. Murray. 1998. Microbiological quality of Australian beef carcass meat and frozen bulk packed beef. J. Food Prot. 61:437-443.
Ware, L. M., M. L. Kain, J. N. Sofos, K. E. Belk, and G. C. Smith. 1999. Comparison of sponging and excising as sampling procedures for microbiological analysis of fresh beef-carcass tissue. J. Food Prot. 62:1255-1259.
Yu, S. L., P. H. Cooke, and S. I. Tu. 2001. Effects of chilling on sampling of bacteria attached to swine carcasses. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 32:205-210.
