Hygienic meat production: Identifying risks at retail poultry outlets

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the risk factors of meat contamination in five different districts of Jammu division namely Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri, Kathua and Samba. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to know the risk factors of meat contamination. The butchers were randomly chosen and interviewed by visiting the retail shops/outlets. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software. Eighty percent retail outlets were found using tap water for cleaning, washing equipment and cleaning offals after the animal have been slaughtered and 52% meat handlers had not taken any training on meat hygiene practices. Most of the slaughtering facilities (84%) had problem of water stagnation, floods, smoke, dust and other contaminants.