Microbiome Populations in Lebanese Slaughterhouse Settings

Abstract

Lebanon has traditionally relied on small ruminants and cattle livestock production to generate meat and dairy food products for the region. Consumer interest and changing residential populations have increased demand for these products, and highlighted food safety concerns along the community chain. Traditional livestock production levels have been unable to meet population demand for meat, necessitating supplemental importation of Brazilian and European cattle for this purpose. While microbial assessment has been studied in dairy and poultry sector products and retail fast foods there are no published reports examining microbial populations in slaughterhouse environments or on cut raw red meat in Lebanon. We determined total aerobic bacterial counts per gram of minced muscle specimen and aerobic bacterial counts per Replicate Organism Detection and Counting Plates (RODAC) plate surfaces (using in-house constructed plates) to characterize microbial species populations found in cattle and sheep carcasses immediately after halal slaughter, and on facility floors and walls within two main Lebanese slaughterhouses located in urban Beirut and rural Baalbek, the Bekaa valley, respectively. We also examined the histological appearance of raw meat muscle using snap frozen Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) media-embedded muscle specimens placed in liquid nitrogen cooled isopentane. The most frequently isolated bacterial species were Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Statistical examination of microbial number comparisons including both sheep and cattle microbial counts from initial individual visits made to both slaughterhouses were not significantly different using individual Student’s t Tests. However, Chi Square comparison of separate cattle and sheep muscle microbial counts obtained at initial visits to the Beirut and Baalbek slaughterhouses evaluated at initial culture testing were highly significantly different to the 90th percent probability level (χ2 = 3.4225, degrees of freedom = 1, alpha 0.10 = 2.706 ). This is the first published study of this type in Lebanon. Examining aerobic microbial species and processing procedures exhibited in the slaughterhouse environment provides a basis upon which to assess current food safety preventive practices. Developing a surveillance testing system for food animal health and zoonotic disease should facilitate and to consider future Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) planning critical control point sites for intervention within the Lebanese setting.