Main Objectives and Background
Improving slaughter hygiene for pigs is the aim of a new 3-year research project, called HYGENEA PORK. Animalia will use a new software to survey slaughter hygiene in 20 European slaughterhouses and suggest improvements.
The main aim of the project is to reduce the bacteria level in pork through a new program for hygiene control, which will provide a more sustainable meat production with better food safety and less food waste. The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Funds for Agriculture and Food Industry (FFL/JA) and Norwegian slaughterhouses. The project starts in 2024 and ends in 2027.
Microbiological Testing and Hygiene Improvement
Microbiological testing of slaughter is required by law and is comprehensive and expensive for the slaughterhouses. However, the preventive effect on public health and value for decision-makers, are questioned by many stakeholders. Animalia has previously developed the tool Hygiene Performance Rating, a digital tool to improve slaughter hygiene in sheep and cattle slaughterhouses. This is a visual audit of the slaughter line. In Hygenea Pork, Hygiene Performance Rating will be developed as a web-based tool for pork slaughterhouses. Each operation along the slaughter line will be assessed for hygienic impact and weaknesses. Recommended measures to improve hygiene will be supported by photos and video from the slaughter line.
Better hygiene will result in less bacteria on meat, which will contribute to fewer cases of human disease and longer shelf life of meat products, as well as less food waste. In the project, this tool will be used in 20 Norwegian and European slaughterhouses in 2025.
Animalia will perform a 1-day visit to each slaughterhouse, conducting the Hygiene Performance Rating scheme and also collect swab samples from 25 pork carcasses, which will be analyzed for E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae. The results will be presented for each slaughterhouse for free. These results will also be compared to a new European risk categorisation to of slaughterhouses (from Ribmins project).
DNA Analysis and Sustainable Slaughter Practices
The bacterial community and dynamics on pig carcasses along two slaughter lines in Norway will be investigated using DNA analysis. The aim is to assess the impact of different slaughter measures along the slaughter line on the survival of different bacteria. This knowledge will be included in the assessment of which inputs should be used on the slaughter line and a suitable packaging method. In addition, attitudes and interests will be mapped to facilitate more sustainable slaughter of pigs, especially in the areas of limiting condemnations and food waste, the use of whole carcasses and alternative uses of meat that are considered to be hygienic risks.
In summary, Hygenea Pork shall...
1) develop the protocol for HPR-pork
2) develop a web-based tool and platform for HPR-pork
3) conduct an international baseline study to document hygiene levels of pork carcasses in Norwegian and a selection of European slaughterhouses by using HPR-pork, risk-categorisation tool, and compare the results with bacterial loads on carcasses and validate HPR-pork tool.
4) document the impact of different slaughter operations by profiling the bacterial communities and dynamics along the slaughter lines by new DNA techniques.
5) survey attitudes among European stakeholders on sustainability, hygiene, and risk perception.