Webinar- "Meat Hygiene; Importance and Technical Norms", Phase-I of "An Approach towards Humane And Hygienic Festival"

Meat Hygiene; Importance and Technical Norms

On 23 rd October, International Veterinary Students' Association (IVSA) Paklihawa, a local chapter of IVSA Nepal conducted a webinar under the phase-I of " An Approach towards Humane and Hygienic Festival" entitled "Meat Hygiene; Importance and Technical Norms" where Dr. Damodar Sedhai who is currently working as a " Adjunct Professor of Veterinary Pathology and Meat Hygiene" served as the key speaker.

The program was moderated by Ms. Maadhabi Pokhrel (Editor, IVSA Paklihawa) and was chaired by Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma (President, IVSA Paklihawa). The program was started with major participants from different agriculture and veterinary universities, and food technicians, and international attendees as well. Starting with the importance of meat consumption, it's dietary value, Dr. Sedhai mentioned about the Norms and Animal Welfare Issues that should be kept into consideration while transporting and slaughtering animals for meat consumption purpose. Moreover, he also talked on the identification of diseased meat, the harmful effects of consuming stored meat under cold temperature for a longer period of time, and on many more topics that elaborated his major idea of safety requirements from Farm to Plate.
 

Importance:
Meat hygiene is a topic covering the whole meat value chain. The meat value chain begins from the farm, covers areas like a slaughterhouse, food processing industry, retailers, and finally ends at the plate of consumers. Meat hygiene is an important topic in today’s world because of the increasing population and urbanization. The population is being concentrated inside urban areas where the risk of mortality is high from various zoonotic diseases (Salmonellosis, Tuberculosis, E. coli, etc.) if proper hygiene is not practiced in the meat industry. Also, it is important to reduce the economic loss in meat and related industries like poultry.
 

Norms:
There are certain norms to be followed in each area of the meat value chain and every aspect of animal husbandry so that we can produce good quality meat.
Norms at the farm: It is most important to consider good practices of feeding, medication, and overall animal welfare on farms to avoid infection of animals and to produce healthy animals.
Norms at slaughterhouse: Before slaughtering the animal, antemortem (examination of LNs, wound, secretions etc.) should be done at slaughtering house to avoid the diseased animal and their infection to other animal meat. Norms like slaughtering within the 60s of stunning, bleeding in hanging position, using chlorine water to clean meat should be taken into practice to prevent damage to meat quality. Before transporting meat to the retailers or consumers certain things like removing intestinal content, examination of pathological lesions, cleaning with chlorinated water should be done to prevent bacterial growth and spread of disease like tapeworm infection. And such meat should be marked with a stamp as per local rules to assure meat quality.

Norm at transporting: Carcass should be chilled at 0-4 degree Celsius and transported in a vehicle having refrigerating facility.
Norms at Cooking and Eating: Semi cooked /uncooked is the main source of infection in human. So meat should be cooked properly for 30 min. Grilled /smoked meat is a source of carcinogenic substance so it is not recommended to over grilled/smoked meat.
The norm for conserving/storing meat: meat can be preserved by freezing or sundry for a long duration or refrigerate for a few days (2-5 days). Skin and hides can’t be stored for more than 48 hrs.
Sanitation: Sanitation can be done by chlorine water and alkali detergent. Based on the purpose the concentration of chlorine water may vary (5-7 ppm for handwashing, 50 ppm for carcass washing, 100 ppm for a cutting table and 200 ppm for other tools).

Conclusion: Quality and hygienic meat can decrease the health hazards of both humans and animals. This is very important to practice necessary norms at each and every area of the meat value chain to ensure good quality meat and to prevent health hazards. The prospects of Antemortem and Postmortem inspection along with pathological and parasitological examination were the major takeaways from the program as veterinary learners. The program lasted for more than one hour with some queries from the participants  related to Dr. Sedhai and his Presentation. And the program officially ended with some remarkable words by Ms. Suvha Shree Sharma (President, IVSA Paklihawa).