Abstract
ABSTRACT A total of 144 swab samples were collected from poultry carcass sites, viz. neck, breast, wing and leg during various unit operations from an organized poultry slaughterhouse. The mean total viable counts (log cfu/cm 2 ± SE) were 5.18 ± 0.09 after shackling; 5.24 ± 0.15 after bleeding; 3.95 ± 0.14 after scalding, defeathering and washing; 5.29 ± 0.15 after evisceration; 4.98 ± 0.17 after washing; and 4.22 ± 0.19 after chilling, respectively. The percent prevalence of indicator organisms, viz. enterococci, fecal coliforms, Clostridium spp. and Escherichia coli, was 24.41, 18.74, 13.88 and 14.57, respectively. Salmonella spp. could not be detected in any of the samples. Among operations, bleeding and evisceration were noted as critical. Legs showed the maximum level of contamination and high prevalence of indicator organisms, denoted as a critical site. Statistical analysis of data revealed that enterococci and fecal coliforms showed highly significant difference (P < 0.01), whereas Clostridium spp. and E. coli showed less difference (P < 0.05) between the unit operations. Proper monitoring of each unit operation is important for production of quality meat.
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