Assessment of Bacteriological Load of Meat Contact Surfaces and Practices of Butcher Shop Workers

Food safety has been a matter of great concern and of public health significance in particular when the environment in which the food is handled and heavily contaminated. Foods of animal origin tend to deteriorate more rapidly and become an important vehicle of food borne infections and the consequent illnesses that lead to high mortality and economic loss. The present investigation was carried out to assess the bacteriological load of meat contact surfaces and the management practices in 36 randomly selected butcher shops in and around Guwahati city. Information on knowledge, attitude and practice of butcher shop workers were gathered by interview method using a structured questionnaire. Out of 36 butcher shop workers interviewed, all the workers were recorded to be male with age ranging between 18-60 years, 80.56% received primary school education, 36.11 % received formal training on hygienic meat handling, 16.67% did not use protective clothes and 58.33% did not cover their hair during work. In addition, 58.33% of the butchers handled money while serving meat and 77.78% wore rings. Bacterial load was assessed by serial dilution method using standard procedure. A total of 216 of swab samples from six different sources (butcher’s knives, meat chopping tables, worker’s hands, weighing pans, meat wood cutting blocks and water used for cleaning of meat) were collected for enumeration of TVC. The mean values of TVC were found to be highest on swab samples collected from meat cutting blocks (6.12±0.01logCFU/cm2) and lowest on water (5.12±0.08CFU/ml). The present investigation indicated poor level of personnel hygiene and poor sanitation in butcher shops. Thus policies, regulations and procedures for hygienic meat handling need to be adhered and enforced by relevant authorities in order to ensure wholesome and safe meat for human consumption.