Sanitation control of some equipments used in poultry slaughterhouse line

This study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of sanitation implemented in a poultry slaughterhouse in Elazığ province. For this purpose, swab samples from fingers of mechanical defeathering machine, outlet band of water cooling tank, outlet band of air cooling and end product band of diet department were taken to analyze the number of total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (TMAB), coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae and the prevalence of Salmonella spp. before sanitation and at the 20 and 30 minutes after sanitation process. TMAB numbers of the samples taken from fingers of mechanical defeathering machine before sanitation and at the 20 and 30 minutes after sanitation process were 5.69±0.83, 4.55±1.22 and 4.64±0.83 log10cfu/cm2, in the samples taken from outlet band of water cooling tank were 0.32±0.86, 1.91±1.65, and 0.47±0.93 log10cfu/cm2, in the samples taken from outlet band of air cooling were 3.45±0.50, 1.52±1.64 and 0.19±0.38 log10cfu/cm2, and in the samples taken from end product band of diet department were 3.03±0.40, 3.11±2.13 and 0.09±0.31 log10cfu/cm2, respectively. Enterobacteriaceae numbers of the samples taken from fingers of mechanical defeathering machine before sanitation and at the 20 and 30 minutes after sanitation process were 4.00±2.09, 2.43±0.58 and 3.27±0.69 log10cfu/cm2, in the samples taken from outlet band of water cooling tank were 2.74±0.82, 1.47±1.35 and 0.32±0.86 log10cfu/cm2, respectively. In the samples taken from outlet band of air cooling before sanitation and at the 20 min after sanitation were 2.60±0.49, and 1.46±1.46 log10cfu/cm2, respectively, and no Enterobacteriaceae was detected at the 30 min after sanitation process. Enterobacteriaceae number of the samples taken from end product band of diet department before sanitation and at 20 min after sanitation were 2.57±0.86 log10cfu/cm2 and 1.55±1.36 log10cfu/cm2 no Enterobacteriaceae was detected at the 30 min after sanitation process. Coliform numbers of the samples taken from fingers of mechanical defeathering machine before sanitation and at the 20 and 30 minutes after sanitation process were 4.16±1.53, 2.72±0.55 and 3.37±0.75 log10cfu/cm2, in the samples taken from outlet band of water cooling tank were 2.76±0.59, 1.40±1.44 and 0.46±1.00 log10cfu/cm2, respectively. In the samples taken from outlet band of air cooling before sanitation and at the 20 min after sanitation were 0.47±0.93 and 0.99±1.35 log10cfu/cm2, respectively, and no coliform bacteria was detected at the 30 min after sanitation process. Coliform number of the samples taken from end product band of diet department before sanitation and at the 20 min after sanitation process were 2.44±0.81 and 1.65±1.43 log10cfu/cm2, respectively, no coliform bacteria was detected at the 30 min after sanitation process. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. in the samples taken from fingers of mechanical defeathering machine before sanitation and at the 20 and 30 minutes after sanitation process were 66.67 %, 33.33 % and 16.67 %, respectively. Salmonella spp. was detected in 8.33 % of the samples taken from outlet band of water cooling tank and air cooling. No Salmonella spp. was detected in the samples taken from the end product band of diet department at any time. As a result, it can be speculated that the cleaning and sanitation process implemented in the related establishment is satisfactory, however, performing better sanitation process may be recommended. Keywords: Poultry, Sanitation, TMAB, Coliform, Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella spp.