Microbial Risk Assessement of the Contamination Level of Bovine Carcasses Slaughtered in an Abattoir in Maramureş County

Abstract

Cattle carcasses may be contaminated during the flow diagram process with a wide variety of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms with diffrent origin, from various sources (soil, water, tools, knives, feces, operators), but only few of them will be able to develop in the new ecosystem conditions, and from these only a small proportion will eventually start the spoilage processes. Taking into account the above mentioned we aimed to perform a microbiological risk evaluation focusing on the aerobic plate count (APC), E. coli count, Enterobacteriacea count and the identification of Salmonella spp . The research material was represented by 60 surface samples of refrigerated beef, collected during January-December 2013, in a slaughterhouse in Maramures County. In order to evaluate the contamination level of the carcasses we used the following standardized methods: SR ISO 4831/2003 for aerobic plate count, SR ISO 21528-2/2007 for Enterobacteriaceae count, SR ISO16649-2/2007 for Echerichia coli and SR ISO 6579/AC/2006 for Salmonella spp. identification. The statistical data obtained concerning the slaughtering process revealed that the total microbial load was between 2.5-5.67 log cfu/cm 2 . These elevated values indicate non-compliance regarding the good hygiene practices and good manufacturing during the technological flow. Fom the total collected samples analized, the germs belonging to Enterobacteriaceae family, exceeded the maximum admitted level in 10.8%, respectively E. coli presented values between 0.5-1.9 log cfu/cm 2 . All the sample were negative for S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium .