Rapid chilling effect on the bacterial populations of pork carcasses

The effect of rapid chilling of pork carcasses on bacterial populations was examined. Two regimes of rapid chilling were applied: treatment 1 (at –31°C in the first 3 h of chilling, and then at 2–4°C till 8 h post-mortem) and treatment 2 (at –31°C in the first 3 h of chilling, and then at 2–4°C till 24 h post-mortem). Microbiological sampling of pork carcasses was obtained by swabbing. Swab samples were analyzed for total aerobic count and for Enterobacteriaceae. Rapid chilling did not affect (P > 0.05) total aerobic counts on surface of pork carcasses. Chilling treatment 1 did not significantly decrease (P > 0.05) the Enterobacteriaceae count, while chilling treatment 2 highly significant decreased (P = 0.001) the Enterobacteriaceae count on the surface of pork carcasses. Based on the results found in this study, applied rapid chilling regime can reduce the number of carcasses positive for the presence of Enterobacteriaceae.