THE EFFECTS OF SPRAY-CHILLING ON CARCASS MASS-LOSS AND SURFACE-ASSOCIATED BACTERIOLOGY

The effect of spray-chilling on carcass mass loss and bacteriology was tested in this trial. The spray-chill treatment consisted of intermit tent spraying of carcasses for either 60 or 120 s every 15 min, for 10 , 14 or 17 h. The 17 h/120 s spray-chill treatment gave the highest an d 10 h/60 s the lowest moisture savings after 18 h of chilling. Due to insufficient drying time between the end of spraying (17 h) and the e nd of chilling (18 h) the carcass sides of the 17 h/60 s and 120 s tre atments appeared pale and wet; this was not the case with the other tr eatments. Regarding microbial analyses, the results indicated that, ex cept for the 17 h/20 s spray-chill treatment, the mean total and Enter obacteriaceae counts of the spray-chill treatments were similar to the ir respective control groups (conventionally chilled). The mean total and Enterobacteriaceae counts of the 17 h/20 s spray-chill treatments increased, while those of the controls decreased.