Verification of the level of Microbiological Control for the Slaughter and Cooling Processes of Beef Carcass Production at a High-line-Speed Abattoir.

Methods are described which were used to verify the microbiological adequacy of the processes of production and chilling of carcasses at a high-line-speed abattoir. Ten excision samples (5 by 5 by 0.2 cm) were taken from each of 16 to 20 carcasses for each evaluation of these processes.

Preslaughter Hide Status of Cattle and the Microbiology of Carcasses.

An assessment was made of the association between tag (mud, bedding, and manure) attached to hides of beef cattle at slaughter and bacterial deposition on carcasses. A total of 624 carcasses from 52 lots of cattle in southern Alberta from January to June 1996 were studied at a high-line-speed abattoir (HLSP) which processed 285 carcasses per h and at a slow-line-speed abattoir (SLSP) which processed 135 carcasses per h. Tag was quantitatively assessed on the belly, legs, and sides of 12 carcasses per lot by the same project worker (lot tag score) and for each incoming lot of cattle by plant personnel (plant lot tag score).

Risk Assessment: Abscessation of Head Lymph Nodes and Carcass Inspection at Two High-Line-Speed Beef Abattoirs in Western Canada.

Canadian inspection procedures for railing out young beef heifer and steer carcasses in high-line-speed abattoirs because of head lymph node abscessation (HLNA) were evaluated. A total of 231,405 animals were inspected and 3,368 that had HLNA were railed out to a stationary line and subjected to further detailed examination. These were compared to 1,659 control carcasses lacking any visual abnormalities, including HLNA, in the judgment of inspection personnel.

Visual Demerit and Microbiological Evaluation of Beef Carcasses: Methodology.

A repeatable, automated method was developed for estimating aerobic bacterial populations on surfaces of groups of beef carcasses. Ten sample cluster sites (CS) were identified by localizing visual demerits (Canadian Streamlined Inspection System) on 200 carcasses at one plant. Most probable number growth units per cm (MPNGU/cm) on hydrophobic grid membrane filters (HGMF) were assessed by an automated HGMF interpreter for excision samples from the centers of these CS.