Assessment of the operational facilities and hygienic practices of abattoirs and butcher shops in Ethiopia

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Most meat-borne outbreaks are attributed to contamination due to poor handling practices and incomplete operational facilities in the meat supply chain. A cross-sectional study, using a structured questionnaire interview and observational checklist, was conducted to assess the hygienic practices of workers from abattoirs and butcher shops and the operational facilities in the area. A total of 286 randomly selected workers from 236 butcher shops and 3 abattoirs participated in this study. The results showed that at the abattoirs, isolation pens for sick animals, stunning boxes, separate rooms for carcass and offal, cooling equipment, and laboratories were missing facilities. Inhumane stunning, inadequate hand washing, insufficient trained workers, irregular medical checkups, and unspecified roles in the slaughtering process were practices that led to the unhygienic handling of meat. At butcher shops, hand washing after meat handling (97.9%), storing leftover meat in refrigerators (80.9%), concrete/tile floors (94.5%), and white-painted walls were good practices observed. Displaying meat at room temperature, wrapping meat with plastic bags, and newspapers, and untrained workers (82.6%) were practices that could compromise the quality of meat. Training was the only factor significantly associated with the hygienic practice of workers both at abattoirs (p = 0.023) and butcher shops (p = 0.012). Our study identified substandard facilities and unhygienic practices both at abattoirs and butcher shops that lead to microbial contamination of meat, which could be enhanced through improving operational facilities, training, and implementation of quality control systems.