An Analysis of the Factors for Microbial Contamination Risk for Pork at Slaughterhouses in Korea Using the Logit Model

Abstract

To assess the effect of slaughtering practices on the probability of microbial contamination at slaughterhouses in Korea, 840 samples from 8 slaughterhouses were collected and 50 factors observed for 2 yr. Target microorganisms were Salmonella spp. and Listereia monocytogenes and 20 contaminated samples were found. Twenty-one out of 50 factors were identified as possible sources of microbial contamination. To narrow down the more critical factors and quantify the effects, simple regression analysis for 21 factors was executed and 6 factors were found to be significant. The LOGIT model was used to measure the effects of the six variables on the chance of microbial risk. Data showed the effect of size of lairage area was neglible. However, increased duration in lairage, size of hair removing pot, and usage of rubber gloves all decreased the contamination risk. Lastly, it was found that increases in duration time from kill to intestine extraction and duration time from intestine extraction to precooling raised the risk of contamination.

This study was conducted with the support of funds from the Agriculture R&D Promotion Center of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Korea Food Research Institute.