Assessment of Hygienic Practices among Pig Slaughterhouses

and Markets in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Chayanee Jenpanich1*, Fred Unger2, Thomas Alter3, Warangkhana Chaisowwong4,5

1 Joint Master Course in Veterinary Public Health (MVPH) of Freie Universität Berlin and Chiang Mai University, Thailand. 2 International Livestock Research Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam. 3 Institute of Food Hygiene, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin. 4 Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. 5 Veterinary Public Health Centre for Asia Pacific, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.

Cross contamination in food especially from animal origin and drinking water is a major causes of

food borne diseases in Thailand. Pork is considered as one of main protein sources for Thai people

with the high consumption. There is a possibility that food are contaminated with microbial and/or

chemical hazards along pig production chain if the food hygiene and food assurance system are not

appropriated. Therefore, hygienic practices are important factors to ensure that food are safe for

consumers. Majority of studies in Thailand focused on determination of biological hazards while

there was a lack of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) surveys.

The purpose of this study was to assess of the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices among

slaughterhouse workers, pork sellers concerning food hygiene and to assess microbiological

hygienic indicators.

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results

Study design: Cross sectional study duration December 2014 - April 2015

Data collection

Sixteen slaughterhouses were processed from

DLD’s registered-slaughterhouses in Chiang Mai-

Lamphun that permitted sample collection. Thirty-

two markets were selected from all 18 registered

markets in Chiang Mai city municipality that repre-

sented urban area and 13 markets from 24 districts

outside the city municipality that represented sub-

urban and rural areas (11 districts are excluded due

to the accessibility distance).

KAP questionnaires

Data were collected from 2 slaughterhouse work-

ers per slaughterhouse (n=32) and 2 pork sellers

per market (n=62).

Microbiological Examination

Eight of the sixteen slaughterhouses were ran-

domly selected. Samples were taken from 5 carcass

swabs, 1 cutting board swab, 1 knife swab and 2

hand washing (n=72). Sixteen of the thirty-one

markets were selected and from each 1 pork, 1 cut-

The author acknowledge to Veterinary Public Health Center for Asia and Pacific, Deutscher Akademischer Austausch

Dienst (DAAD) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for financial and technical support for this

project and also thankful to Asst.Prof.Dr. Veerasak Punyapornwithaya for his valuable guidance.

1. Clayton, D.A., Griffith, C.J., Price, P. , Peters, A.C. 2002. Food handlers’ beliefs and self-reported practices.

International Journal of Environmental Health Research. 12, 25-39.

2. Brown M.H., Gill C.O., Hollingsworth J., Nickelson II R., Seward S., Sheridan J.J., Stevenson T., Sumner J.L.,

Theno D.M., Usborne W.R., Zink D. 2000. The role of microbiological testing in system for assuring

the safety of beef. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 62, 7–16.

Table 2. The response of pork sellers (percentage) practice statements related to food safety.

MVPH student Batch 6: 2013-2015

Name: Chayanee Jenpanich

Affiliation: Bureau of Disease Control and Veterinary Services,

Department of Livestock Development, Bangkok

Country: THAILAND

Knowledge

- Knowledge of respondents was vary between slaughterhouse workers and pork sellers (Figure 1).

- Range of respondent’ knowledge was wider for pork

sellers.

Attitudes

- Nearly 70% of pork sellers agreed that diarrhea did

not affect for their jobs and they also agreed that they

worked even they got sick (Table 1).

- Slaughterhouse workers agreed that protective equip-

ment such as gloves (93%) can reduce the risk of food

- Pork sellers understood that masks can reduced the risk of food contamination but some of them

thought that if they wore masks, they looked like people who got sick and consumers did not want

to buy pork from their shops.

- Slaughterhouse workers agreed that protective equipment can reduce the risk of food contamina-

tion but 32% of them did not use gloves at all because they thought that gloves cannot protect their

hands, blood still can go inside and using it was not convenient to do their jobs.

- At slaughterhouses, the mean values obtained for TVC and Enterobacteriaceae count on carcasses

was within the acceptable range of EU standard (<4 log, <2 log respectively) while markets showed

the a high mean value of microbial load obtained for TVC in pork (>5 log).

- Although respondents had good knowledge of food safety, it was difficult to apply this knowledge

when handling meat, similar observations were reported that 95% of respondents received food

hygiene training but they did not always carry out in food hygiene practices to implement in their

Figure 1. Comparison of boxplot distribu-

tions for respondents correct answers (%)

according to knowledge categories.

Practices

- Forty-three percent of pork sellers never used

masks at work and always handled their food at

work when they got diarrhea are shown at

70.5% (Table 2).

- Eighty-one percent of slaughterhouse workers

still worked even they had abrasion on their

hands.

Total viable count and Enterobacteriacea

count

Samples

Total viable

count

Enterobacteriaceae

count

Carcass

(log10 cfu/cm2)

3.09 ± 1.34 0.03 ± 1.08

Pork

(log10 cfu/g)

5.50 ± 0.39 2.55 ± 1.43

Table 1. The response of pork sellers (percentage) to

No Topics Strongly agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree

1 Diarrhea does not affect in

my job. 7

(13.72%) 28

(54.90%) 3

(5.89%) 11

(21.56%) 2

(3.93%)

2 Using gloves is important

in reducing risk of food

contamination.

18 (35.29%)

27

(52.92%) 2

(3.93%) 3

(5.89%) 1

(1.97%)

3 Using mask is important

in reducing risk of food

contamination.

11

(21.56%

30 (58.82%)

1 (1.97%)

8 (15.68%)

1 (1.97%)

Discussion

No Topics Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never

1 You handle food at work

when you have diarrhea. 36

(70.59%) - 3

(5.88%) - 12

(23.53%)

2 You use gloves at work daily. 28 (54.90%)

2 (3.92%)

8 (15.69%)

1 (1.96%)

12 (23.53%)

3 You use masks at work daily. 2 (3.92%)

2 (3.92%)

13 (25.49%)

12 (23.53%)

22 (43.14%)

total viable counts and Enterobacteriaceae

counts (Brown et al., 2000). The mean of total

viable counts and Enterobacteriaceae counts

were shown on Table 3 by different types of

samples.

Table 3. Total viable counts and Enterobacteri-

aceae counts in different types of samples

Acknowledgement

References

Data Collection

KAP

Questionnaires

Microbiological

Examination

- Personal hygiene

- Cross contamination

- Food borne illness

- Time & Temp.

- Total viable count

(ISO:4833, 2003E)

- Enterobacteriaceae

count (ISO:21528-2,

2002)