Assessment on hygiene situation of pork from slaughterhouse to local retail markets in Tien Giang province

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the veterinary hygiene conditions of 35 slaughterhouses in the province under the guidance of Circular No. 45/2014/TT-BNNPTNT. At 10 representative slaughterhouses, water, tool surface and pork samples were collected for analysing the veterinary
hygiene criteria. The transportation facilities, butcher places, pork were also sampled to assess the sanitation status of the distribution/consumption stage. The studied results showed that among 35 investigated slaughterhouses, there was only 1 slaughterhouse reached type A, the remaining ones
were classified as type B. Only 56.67% of water samples from slaughterhouses met the microbial criteria. The hygiene level of this water was directly relative to the situation of slaughter equipment and meat hygiene condition. Many transportation facilities and butcher places did not meet hygienic criteria, accounting for only 17.78% and 13.89%, respectively. The rate of pork samples reaching hygiene standards before consumption was 8.89% only. In conclusion, the research results show that the hygienic situation of pork from the slaughterhouses to the retail markets in the province is very poor. The appropriate measures need to be undertaken so as to control the safety criteria in the chain of supplying pork for the consumers in the surveyed areas of Tien Giang province