Two sampling techniques for game meat

Authors

  • Maretha van der Merwe Tshwane University of Technology
  • Piet J Jooste Tshwane University of Technology
  • Louw C Hoffman University of Stellenbosch
  • Frikkie J Calitz Agricultural Research Council Biometry Unit

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the excision sampling technique used by the export market and the sampling technique preferred by European countries, namely the biotrace cattle and swine test. The measuring unit for the excision sampling was grams (g) and square centimetres (cm2 ) for the swabbing technique. The two techniques were compared after a pilot test was conducted on spiked approved beef carcasses (n = 12) that statistically proved the two measuring units correlated. The two sampling techniques were conducted on the same game carcasses (n = 13) and analyses performed for aerobic plate count (APC), Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, for both techniques. A more representative result was obtained by swabbing and no damage was caused to the carcass. Conversely, the excision technique yielded fewer organisms and caused minor damage to the carcass. The recovery ratio from the sampling technique improved 5.4 times for APC, 108.0 times for E. coli and 3.4 times for
S. aureus over the results obtained from the excision technique. It was concluded that the sampling methods of excision and swabbing can be used to obtain bacterial profiles from both export and local carcasses and could be used to indicate whether game carcasses intended for the local market are possibly on par with game carcasses intended for the export market and
therefore safe for human consumption.

Author Biographies

  • Maretha van der Merwe, Tshwane University of Technology

    Department of Environmental Health, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

  • Piet J Jooste, Tshwane University of Technology

    Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

  • Louw C Hoffman, University of Stellenbosch

    Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

  • Frikkie J Calitz, Agricultural Research Council Biometry Unit

    Agricultural Research Council Biometry Unit, Pretoria, South Africa

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Published

2021-12-06

Issue

Section

Original Research