This study of four domestic abattoirs in South Australia with Quality Assurance programmes in place established the size of bacterial populations that could be expected on pig carcasses on entry to abattoir dressing floors at pre-evisceration, the extent of contamination occurring during carcass dressing, and the effect of chilling on these populations. Analysis was conducted for salmonellae, Escherichia coli, Total Viable Count, and pseudomonads. Exterior swabbing was compared to swabbing of corresponding interior sites which are sterile initially. The interior swabbing sites were found to be a more reliable measure of contamination during the dressing process than the swabbing of already contaminated exterior sites. During the identification of some of the points of carcass contamination, the effectiveness of end-of-work foam cleaning programmes used at abattoir dressing floors and their relationship to the potential for airborne contamination of carcasses was examined and found to be positive. Operators' work tools and hands were identified as sources of interior carcass contamination combined with failure of operators to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during carcass dressing, especially those related to hand and forearm washing at appropriate times. Foot-operated full-immersion hot water units for operators' knives and steels were designed and installed at two abattoirs to give operators access to physically and biologically clean work tools throughout carcass dressing. / PhD Doctorate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/284116 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Skull, John |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | EN-AUS |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright 2005 John Skull |
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