The Impact of Cattle Hide Cleanliness Scores on Microbial Contamination of Carcasses During Slaughtering

This study aimed to investigate the effects of cleanliness scoring on the microbiological load of hide and the final contamination of cattle carcasses. Fifty cattle were classified from 1 (clean and dry) to 5 (filthy and wet). Aerobic colony count (ACC) and counts of Enterobacteriaceae (EC) and E. coli (ECC) were determined on the brisket, abdominal midline, rump, groin sites of the hides, and brisket, flank, groin, and hock of the carcasses. On hides, ACC ranged from 3.15±0.13 log cfu/cm² in category 1 to 8.14±0.21 log cfu/cm² in category 5. EC and ECC were ranging between 1.13±0.07 and 2.80±0.09 log cfu/cm2, and 1.21±0.05 and 2.15±0.07 log cfu/cm², respectively. While the mean ACC on the carcasses ranged between 2.18±0.07 and 2.63±0.05 log cfu/cm² irrespective of the categories, Enterobacteriaceae and E. coli could not be counted due to the detection limits. It was concluded that although the level of bacterial load increased significantly (P<0.001) with the increasing cleanliness category on the hide of the animals, the reflection of this increasing trend on carcasses and different parts of the carcasses were inconsistent and the hygiene provided in the slaughterhouse and processing line was the main factor to reduce cross-contamination during processing.