A Review on the Microbial Surface Contaminants of the Animal Carcasses

Abstract

The flesh of the slaughtered animals is believed to be sterile. However, after slaughter, meat of different animal species is exposed to a vast array of microorganisms during processing of the carcasses. Carcass processing includes slaughtering, dressing, evisceration, quartering, and further transportation, and distribution. Several sources of microbial contamination might contribute to the microbial status of the different carcasses including internal sources such as the ruminal content of the animal, blood, hide and skin, and external sources such as butchers hands, clothes, knives, cutting boards, and abattoir environment including walls, floors, washing water, etc. One major task of the food safety sector is to ensure the hygienic measures adopted during all steps of meat processing. Therefore, this study was undertaken to review the microbial surface contaminants of the animal carcasses. This review concluded that efficient hygienic measures should be adopted during all steps of handling of the meat in order to obtain a high keeping quality meat with low initial microbial load.