Decontamination of Pig Carcasses with Hot Water

A test of terminal pig carcass decontamination with hot water has been carried out in full production scale using a commercial installation, which was purchased for the purpose. The numbers of E. coli on the carcasses were reduced by more than 2 logarithmic units as a result of the decontamination. The total reduction in the number of E. coli as result of decontamination and carcass chilling was additive, and was more than 2.7 logarithmic units. Based on the available knowledge about the number of Salmonella on contaminated carcasses, it is expected that the combination of decontamination and carcass chilling in more than 90% of the cases will be able to reduce Salmonella on contaminated carcasses to levels below the detection limit. This has been confirmed by decontamination of carcasses from Salmonella-infected herds, where Salmonella were found only on 44 of6045 carcasses (0.73 %) after decontamination