Determination of correlation between cleanness of cattle slaughtered in A slaughterhouse and microbial contamination levels of carcasses

SUMMARY Determination of correlation between cleanness of cattle slaughtered in a slaughterhouse and microbial contamination levels of carcasses The cattle brought to Muğla Municipal Slaughterhouse between June and December 2014 were assessed in terms of cleanness of their skins by scores varying between 1 (clean and dry) and 5 (dirty and wet) during ante-mortem examination carried out in the paddocks of the slaughterhouse and they were scored according to their appearance. In total, 50 carcasses (10 carcasses for each category) were selected to assess skin contamination of animals brought to the slaughterhouse. It observed when the microbiological analysis results obtained from different parts on the skin are assessed as a whole for an animal that TVC levels increase as skin dirtiness increase and while any statistical difference is not detected between 4th and 5th categories (P>0.05), statistical differences arises in-between 1st, 2nd and 3rd Categories as well as between these categories and 4th and 5th categories (P<0,05). Average TVC level determined to be 3,15 cfu/cm2 for 1st category which is considered to be the cleanest one and ,98 cfu/cm2 and 8,14 cfu /cm2 for 4th and 5th categories respectively. However, it has also saw that level of Enterobacteriaceae on skin increases as skin dirtiness increases but while there is not any meaningful difference among 3rd, 4th and 5th Categories (P>0.05), there are significant differences between these three groups and 1st and 2nd categories (P<0,05). While E. coli levels of the groups vary, the highest and lowest E. coli levels have been detected in 2nd and 4th Categories with the levels of 1,21 log cfu/cm2 and 2,15 cfu/cm2 respectively. While the number of carcasses on which E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae detected for categori 1 is 3 and 16 respectively, maximum number of carcasses on which E.coli detected in other groups is 33 and number of animals on which Enterobacteriaceae detected reaches up to 40. It determined in the analyses performed on the carcass that average TVC load of the carcasses are between 2,18 cfu/cm2 and 2,63 cfu/cm2. The lowest TVC load has been detected in the 1st category which is the cleanest one and it has been observed that this weight increases in parallel with the dirtiness level of the carcass. While TVC levels of the 2nd and 3rd Categories detected to be higher compared to other categories, 5th Category has been determined to be the category with 2nd lowest TVC load with the TMAB level of 2.27 cfu/cm2 following 1st category. E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae could not be detected on the carcasses for any category. It found out when the results of the research are evaluated for the slaughterhouse that operation of the slaughterhouse is efficient enough to keep contamination at a minimum level. Key words: Cattle carcass, E. Coli, Enterobacteriaceae, TVC, Microbial contamination