Microbiological assessment at slaughter of chicken carcasses from commercial, backyard and semi-backyard production systems.

INTRODUCTION: Smaller scale, alternative, chicken production systems are gaining popularity globally. However, this brings public health and market confidence concerns, especially where there are no established standards of production. The aim of this study was to carry out a microbiological analysis of chicken carcasses from the commercial, backyard and semi-backyard production systems, slaughtered in the same slaughterhouse. METHODOLOGY: Samples of 102 chicken carcasses were taken in two steps of the slaughter (A: after bleeding; and B: after chiller tank) and were subjected to aerobic mesophilic, coliforms at 35 °C and coliforms at 45 °C counts, and Salmonella spp. detection. Salmonella spp. isolates were subjected to antimicrobial resistance analysis. RESULTS: At slaughter step A, carcasses from the backyard system had less contamination than carcasses from the commercial system, with a difference of 0.7 log10 CFU/mL. Salmonella was identified in carcasses of all production systems and in both slaughter steps. Nine chicken carcasses were positive for Salmonella and no significant difference was observed in the occurrence of Salmonella amongst the carcasses from different production systems. Two Salmonella isolates, that presented the highest resistance profiles (one isolate was resistant to eight and the other to six out of ten tested antibiotics), were identified on carcasses from the semi-backyard system. CONCLUSIONS: Carcasses from the backyard system had a lower microbial count at the initial step of the slaughter process than the commercial production system. In addition, greater resistance to antimicrobials was observed in Salmonella isolates from semi-backyard system.

Contagens de bactérias aeróbias mesófilas e psicrotróficas em filés de tilápias comercializados em dois supermercados de Uberlândia-MG / Counting of aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria in tilapia fillets marketed in two supermarkets of Uberlândia-MG

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar as contagens de bactérias aeróbias mesófilas e psicrotróficas em filés de tilápias de dois supermercados de Uberlândia-MG. 30 filés frescos oriundos do estabelecimento A e 29 do B foram amostrados por esfregaço superficial (50 cm2) para contagens de bactérias Aeróbias Mesófilas (AM) (Pour Plate -37°C/ 48h) e Psicrotróficas (PSI) (Plaqueamento em superfície – 7°C/ 7dias) em Plate Count Agar. Comparou-se as médias de contagens por Mann-Whitney (P<0,05). Os filés do estabelecimento A apresentaram média de contaminação superior à encontrada no estabelecimento B para AM (5,54 e 3,74 UFC/ cm2 respectivamente) e PSI (7,41 e 5,78 UFC/ cm2, respectivamente). Os altos níveis de contagens indicam a necessidade de melhorias nas boas práticas de fabricação para reduzir a contaminação dos filés comercializados.

Caracterização do manejo pré-abate de bovinos em um abatedouro-frigorífico de Uberlândia-MG / Characterization of pre-slaughter management of cattle at a Slaughterhouse in Uberlândia-MG

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o manejo pré-abate de bovinos em um abatedouro frigorífico de Uberlândia – MG, quanto às adequações para um abate humanitário. Foram realizadas 6 visitas ao estabelecimento, onde se coletou informações referentes à 1011 bovinos (uso de choque elétrico, escorregões, quedas, e taxas de lotação dos currais). A primeira visita apresentou a menor proporção de estímulos elétricos por animal (1,56) e a sexta visita a maior frequência (2,98). Os menores valores de escorregão e queda obtidos foram nos currais com frequência respectiva de 1,68% e 0,79%. Não houve relação entre o excesso de animais em um determinado compartimento e o número de quedas, escorregões e choques (p>0,05). O estabelecimento se adequou em partes à legislação, porém, ajustes podem contribuir para a melhor qualidade do manejo.