1. Microbiological Baseline Study of Swine Carcasses at Swedish Slaughterhouses
- Author
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S. Thisted Lambertz, Roland Lindqvist, H. Lindmark, and Mats Lindblad
- Subjects
Salmonella ,Veterinary medicine ,Swine ,Colony Count, Microbial ,Indicator bacteria ,Food Contamination ,medicine.disease_cause ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Risk Assessment ,Microbiology ,Enterobacteriaceae ,Listeria monocytogenes ,Escherichia coli ,Prevalence ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Food microbiology ,Yersinia enterocolitica ,Sweden ,biology ,Campylobacter ,Pathogenic bacteria ,biology.organism_classification ,Bacteria, Aerobic ,Consumer Product Safety ,Food Microbiology ,Abattoirs ,Food Science - Abstract
This 13-month survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence and counts of foodborne pathogenic bacteria and indicator bacteria on swine carcasses in Sweden. A total of 541 swine carcasses were sampled by swabbing prechill at the 10 largest slaughterhouses in Sweden. Pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica was detected by PCR in 16% of the samples. The probability of finding Y. enterocolitica increased with increasing counts of Escherichia coli. No samples were positive for Salmonella. The prevalences of Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and verocytotoxin-producing E. coli were low (1, 2, and 1%, respectively). None of the verocytotoxin-positive enrichments, as determined by a reverse passive latex agglutination assay, tested positive for the virulence genes eaeA or hlyA by PCR. Coagulase-positive staphylococci, E. coli, and Enterobacteriaceae were recovered from 30, 57, and 87% of the samples, respectively, usually at low levels (95th percentiles, 0.79, 1.09, and 1.30 log CFU/cm2, respectively). The mean log level of Enterobacteriaceae was 0.35 log CFU/cm2 higher than that of E. coli on carcasses positive for both bacteria. The mean log level of aerobic microorganisms was 3.48 log CFU/cm2, and the 95th percentile was 4.51 log CFU/cm2. These data may be useful for risk assessment purposes and can serve as a basis for risk management actions, such as the use of E. coli as an alternative indicator organism for process hygiene control.
- Published
- 2007