Do you work in the meat industry? Then this practical guide for good hygiene in meat processing is meant for you. It is specifically written for slaughters to help you comply with the hygiene standards and requirements that meat manufacturers must comply with. This practical guide will help you navigate around in meat hygiene regulations made by competent authorities and hygiene programs within the individual meat plants. It may be a complex field, but the meat manufactures need to comply with these regulations, since they will be supervised by the plant management. Thus, the staff at the meat production plants need to learn about these hygiene programs before entering the work area and be active in observing these hygiene requirements.

The hygiene requirements differentiate between:

• Personal hygiene
• Slaughter and meat processing hygiene
• Hygiene of slaughter and meat processing equipment
• Hygiene of slaughter and meat processing premises

The topics above are of equal significance, and the four themes may give rise to hazards, which both can affect consumers’ health and cause economic losses. Therefore, we will briefly mention some of the hygiene standards and requirements in meat processing and production that the slaughters or staff should be aware of.  All aspects deal with how to make a safe food production, but also a good hygienic meat production.

 

Personal hygiene in meat production

Some of the key requirements or principles for personal hygiene in meat production and processing are measured below. However, the principles do not include slaughter hygiene or meat transport and storage hygiene. About the personal hygiene, the staff must wear clean protective clothes, wash hands both before starting and during their work, and they are not allowed to wear finger rings, watches or bracelets. Further, the staff may only access the production areas with working clothes, and they need to clean or disinfect hands/tools/clothes if they were in contact with contaminated subjects. Moreover, knife cuts and other slaughter equipment must be covered by a water tight bandage, and workers with open wounds or cuts are not allowed to work with meat (due to risk of spread of bacteria).

 

Hygiene of meat processing

The ideal meat cutting has to be done in climatized rooms around + 10°C with low air humidity. The meat should be brought to the production area gradually in order for it to not accumulate on the production and processing tables. You are not allowed to hose wall areas, down floor or equipment next to meat processing operations or finished products. Furthermore, you are not allowed to put back any meat pieces onto the working tables, which accidentally had contact with contaminated surfaces or the floor.

 

Hygiene of meat processing premises

Meat processing facilities must follow hygienic standards to ensure and maintain a clean and hygienic working conditions at the workplace. Thus, walls in all rooms, where the staff are processing meat and by-products, must have washable and smooth surfaces. Moreover, the wall windows in all rooms must be positioned in an adequate height, that makes it easy to clean both the floors and walls. Supply systems for electrical wiring and pipes for water should not obstruct cleaning procedures and not be within reach of dirt contamination.

 

Hygiene of meat processing equipment

It is the meat production’s management who has the responsibility for a proper designed construction of meat processing equipment. The design of the equipment should be easy to clean, which means that organic matters shouldn’t be difficult to remove. In other words, the hygiene must be implemented everywhere, even down to the smallest, but still important machinery parts. It is crucial that each part in the facilities lives up to the several different standards for hygiene. From the larger parts of the machinery to the smallest components such as the wheels and  the adjustable casters.