RISKS AND PREVENTION OF CONTAMINATION OF BEEF CARCASSES DURING THE SLAUGHTER PROCESS IN THE UNITED-STATES-OF-AMERICA

A brief general description of the beef cattle slaughter process used in the United States of America is presented. Considerable variation i n prevalence of microbial contamination at beef processing establishme nts has been reported. Primary factors which may explain this variatio n include: a) pathogen load on, or in, live animals entering the estab lishment b) sanitation practices used by the establishment. Pathogen l oad on, or in, li live animals depends on environmental exposure to co ntaminants, the health of the animal, and on situations stressful to t he animal which may increase microbial shedding, such as disrupted acc ess to feed and water, transport, handling and contact with other anim als. Processing stations and slaughter practices which are potential s ources of carcass contamination are listed, and points on carcasses wh ere contamination is most likely to occur are noted. Contamination ris k-reduction measures within an establishment include carcass treatment s with anti-microbial agents, trimming, washing, steaming, chilling an d gamma irradiation. Several good sanitation practices are described. Microbial monitoring is a necessary step for determining whether sanit ation practices are efficacious, but the usefulness of microbial monit oring depends on the microbial tests selected, sampling procedures, fr equency of sampling, the rapidity of receiving test results and consis tent and accurate record-keeping and analysis. Federal inspection to e nsure that processing establishments comply with new Federal regulatio ns regarding the implementation of standard sanitation procedures and microbial testing should result in greater vigilance of good sanitatio n practices by establishments.