Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May;3(5):407-12.
doi: 10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60085-4.

Food safety knowledge and practices of abattoir and butchery shops and the microbial profile of meat in Mekelle City, Ethiopia

Mekonnen Haileselassie  1 , Habtamu Taddele, Kelali Adhana, Shewit Kalayou
Affiliations

Food safety knowledge and practices of abattoir and butchery shops and the microbial profile of meat in Mekelle City, Ethiopia

Mekonnen Haileselassie et al. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2013 May.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the food safety knowledge and practices in meat handling, and to determine microbial load and pathogenic organisms in meat at Mekelle city.

Methods: A descriptive survey design was used to answer questions concerning the current status of food hygiene and sanitation practiced in the abattoir and butcher shops. Workers from the abattoir and butcher shops were interviewed through a structured questionnaire to assess their food safety knowledge. Bacterial load was assessed by serial dilution method and the major bacterial pathogens were isolated by using standard procedures.

Results: 15.4% of the abattoir workers had no health certificate and there was no hot water, sterilizer and cooling facility in the abattoir. 11.3% of the butchers didn't use protective clothes. There was a food safety knowledge gap within the abattoir and butcher shop workers. The mean values of bacterial load of abattoir meat, butcher shops and street meat sale was found to be 1.1×10(5), 5.6×10(5) and 4.3×10(6) cfu/g, respectively. The major bacterial pathogens isolated were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus.

Conclusions: The study revealed that there is a reasonable gap on food safety knowledge by abattoir and butcher shop workers. The microbial profile was also higher compared to standards set by World Health Organization. Due attention should be given by the government to improve the food safety knowledge and the quality standard of meat sold in the city.

Keywords: Abattoir; Bacterial; Bacterial load; Hygiene; Isolation butchery shops; Mekelle; Street meat sale.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

References

    1. WHO . Bangkok, Thailand: 2004. Regional office for Africa “Developing and Maintaining Food Safety Control Systems for Africa Current Status and Prospects for Change”, Second FAO/WHO Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators; pp. 12–14.
    1. Yousuf AHM, Ahmed MK, Yeasmin S, Ahsan N, Rahman MM, Islam MM. Prevalence of microbial load in shrimp, Penaeus monodon and prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii from Bangladesh. World J Agricultural Sci. 2008;4:852–855.
    1. Jones R, Jonesa H, Hussein M, Monique Z, Gale B, John RT. Isolation of lactic acid bacteria with inhibitory activity against pathogens and spoilage organisms associated with fresh meat. Food Microbiol. 2008;25:228–234. - PubMed
    1. Bayleyegn M, Daniel A, Woubit S. Sources and distribution of Salmonella serotypes isolated from food animals, slaughterhouse personnel and retail meat products in Ethiopia. Ethiopian J Health Dev. 2003;17:63–70.
    1. Ejeta G, Molla D, Aemayehu D, Muckle A. Salmonella serotypes isolated from minced meat beef, mutton and pork in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Revue de Médecine Vétérinaire. 2004;155(11):547–551.

Publication types