Recent Advances in Pre- and Postslaughter Intervention Strategies for Control of Meat Contamination

Abstract

The main approaches employed in controlling microbial contamination in meat products include application of procedures to: (i) minimize sources and levels of microorganisms reaching the slaughter facility; (ii) minimize access or transfer of microorganisms from the animal's exterior and the slaughter environment to the meat; (iii) reduce contamination that has gained access to the meat; (iv) inactivate microorganisms on the meat and meat products; and, (v) inhibit or retard growth of contamination that has gained access to meat and meat products and has not been inactivated. In general, control of microbial contamination on meat products may be accomplished through pre- and post-slaughter intervention strategies. Pre-slaughter or field control of pathogen prevalence in live animals prior to arrival at slaughterhouses may be achieved via good management practices such as market classification of animals, clean housing, feed and water, pest control, and transport/lairage control or via interventions such as diet modifications, feeding of pathogen displacement agents (prebiotics, probiotics, and competitive exclusion), feed additives, antibiotic treatments, vaccine administration, and bacteriophage therapy. Control of pathogen contamination on the animal carcass during slaughter and dressing may be achieved through employment of animal cleaning and carcass decontamination technologies, while control at the post-slaughter stage is attained by application of antimicrobial, thermal and non-thermal physical interventions, fermentation, drying, refrigeration or freezing, and antimicrobial packaging. The preservation of meat products is, thus, effectively achieved through combinations of antimicrobial interventions in multiple-hurdle systems. The objective is to maximize the effect of individual antimicrobial interventions in order to achieve an additive or synergistic action that controls contamination more efficiently than the individual treatments applied singly.