Microbiological status of slaughtered rabbits: microbiological carcass contamination at the end of slaughter.

摘要

In Europe and some Asian countries, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are an important source of meat. From published literatures only limited microbiological data are available for rabbit carcasses. In the present study, 500 rabbit carcasses were investigated during a seven-month period (March to September 2007) by wet-dry swabbing and examined for total viable counts (TVC), Enterobacteriaceae and coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS). Average TVC on rabbit carcasses accounted for 3.3 log10 CFU cm-2. On the single carcasses, TVC ranged from 1.8 to 5.3 log10 CFU cm-2. Enterobacteriaceae served as an indicator for local contamination and CPS as an indicator for Staphylococcus aureus were detected on 118 (23.6%) and 153 (30.6%) rabbit carcasses, respectively. Frequency in June of (Enterobacteriaceae) and in September (CPS) was higher than those in the other months. In daily practice, the maintenance of slaughter hygiene conditions in the slaughter of rabbits can be measured by regular slaughter process analysis, complemented by microbiological verification examinations of the environment and carcasses in accordance with HACCP principles.