Abstract
: Food safety is indirectly affected by the welfare of food animals, due to close links between animal welfare, animal health and food borne diseases. Stress factors and poor welfare can lead to increased susceptibility to disease among animals and may intensify the fecal shedding of food borne pathogens, e.g. Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia, and human pathogenic STEC in the pre-slaughter phase: on-farm, in transport and in lairage. This study evaluated two aspects: a) assessment of pig welfare in abattoir lairage founded on animal-based categories, and b) the relationship between pig welfare and microbial process hygiene at slaughter. The results revealed that the animal-based category ‘manure on the body’ assessed in abattoir lairage corresponded with microbial process hygiene at slaughter.
Highlights
Animal welfare is considered an important factor of an overall ‘food quality’ concept
The safety of the food chain is indirectly affected by welfare of animals farmed for food production, due to the close links between animal welfare, animal health and food borne diseases
Stress factors and poor welfare can lead to increased susceptibility to disease among animals and can intensify fecal shedding of food borne pathogens in the pre-slaughter phase: on-farm, in transport/livestock markets and in abattoir lairage (Buncic et al, 2013)
Summary
Animal welfare is considered an important factor of an overall ‘food quality’ concept. The safety of the food chain is indirectly affected by welfare of animals farmed for food production, due to the close links between animal welfare, animal health and food borne diseases. The gastrointestinal tract of farm animals can be colonized by enteric, food borne pathogens, e.g. Salmonella, Campylobacter, human pathogenic Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Yersinia, and their subsequent dissemination into the human food chain is a major public health and economic concern for the food (meat) industries (Rostagno, 2009). Stress factors and poor welfare can lead to increased susceptibility to disease among animals and can intensify fecal shedding of food borne pathogens in the pre-slaughter phase: on-farm, in transport/livestock markets and in abattoir lairage (Buncic et al, 2013). In a study carried out by Berends et al (1997), it was reported that the initial source of pig carcass contamination was the carrier pig itself (70%), while the remaining 30% of the carcass contamination was related to the hygiene of slaughter and dressing
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