Haematology of veal calves reared in different husbandry systems and the assessment of iron deficiency.

Calves were reared for veal and fed milk replacer either alone or with straw or dry feed of varied iron content. Measurements of haematology and iron biochemistry were made at the start of the rearing period and before slaughter at 16 to 20 weeks of age. When the total dietary iron intake rose to approximately 12,500 mg (an average of 112 mg/dl, approximately 60 mg/kg dry matter) haemoglobin concentration reached a mean value (+/- sd) of 12.4 +/- 1.1 g/dl, similar to control calves. There was no further increase in haemoglobin when more iron was fed, indicating that there was sufficient iron in the diet for normal erythropoiesis. The borderline of iron deficiency anaemia at 16 to 20 weeks of age was defined as a haemoglobin concentration of 9 g/dl and a saturation of total iron binding capacity of 10 per cent. There was evidence of diurnal variation in serum iron concentration in calves fed in a periodic manner. The feeding of straw to veal calves did not prevent iron deficient erythropoiesis.

Bacteriological status of beef carcasses at a commercial abattoir before and after slaughterline improvements.

The bacteriological status of beef carcasses was monitored at a commercial abattoir before and after two stages of modernization to the beef slaughterline which included changing from cradle dressing to dressing on an overhead rail, and the introduction of hot water spray cleaning of carcasses. Although small significant (P less than 0.05) differences in bacterial count occurred among carcass sites within modernization stages, significant visit within stage variation and stage X site interactions prevented any significant change in overall count being observed among stages and carcass sites. Principal components analysis revealed small changes in the distribution of bacterial numbers on the sites sampled.

Microbiology of beef carcasses before and after slaughterline automation.

The bacterial status of beef carcasses at a commercial abattoir was monitored before and after slaughterline automation. Bacterial counts did not differ significantly overall (P greater than 0.05) between the original manual line and the automated line for either morning or afternoon slaughter. On the manual line counts in the morning were lower than those from carcasses slaughtered in the afternoon, but on the automated line there was no difference between morning and afternoon counts. Due to highly significant line X sample site interaction for both morning and afternoon counts, overall differences among sample sites were not found by analysis of variance. However, principal components analysis revealed a significant shift in bacterial contamination among some sites due to slaughterline changes. The incidence of Enterobacteriaceae increased marginally following automation.

Number and distribution of bacteria on some beef carcasses at selected abattoirs in some member states of the European communities.

In seven member countries of the European Communities, three abattoirs were visited on three occasions in each of two surveys and at each visit ten beef carcasses were sampled, before chilling, at defined sites on the neck, brisket, forerib and medially on the round. In Survey I, samples were plated for total viable count (TVC) at 30° (ISO 2293) and Enterobacteriaceae at 37° (ISO 5552); in Survey II only TVCs were made. This paper is confined to analyses of the TVCs in the two surveys. Data from each country were analysed separately as sampling methodology may not have been sufficiently reproducible by different workers to allow between-countries comparison. Variations among visits to particular abattoirs and abattoir × site interactions made comparisons among abattoirs invalid within five of the seven countries. To effectively monitor differences between abattoirs within most countries it would be necessary to make more than three visits to each abattoir. Despite abattoir × site interactions in three countries in Survey I and four countries in Survey II, comparisons between sites were generally valid because of the consistent high contamination of the brisket. In the remainder of countries the abattoir × site interaction was too large to allow valid comparisons between sites. It is recommended that at least three or four sites are sampled in future surveys as only one site per carcass would underestimate the number of more heavily contaminated carcasses.

A minimal apparatus method for counting bacteria: comparison with reference method in surveying beef carcasses at three commercial abattoirs.

In two surveys of three commercial abattoirs a minimal apparatus method for making bacterial counts, the "loop-tile' method, detected the same trends in bacterial numbers on beef carcasses as the ISO reference method applied to the same samples. Both methods showed the carcasses from one abattoir, that with an export license, to carry consistently higher numbers of bacteria, and one of the four sites sampled on each carcass to be consistently dirtier than the other three.