To determine the presence of Salmonella on pork carcasses at 3 different processing points during harvest in a commercial abattoir in the Bahamas.

A total of 44 carcasses were sampled between December 2015 and January 2016 at an abattoir in Nassau, Bahamas. Pork carcasses were sampled using sterile swabs pre-enriched with Buffered Peptone Water (BPW) at 3 steps during the harvest process: post-exsanguination, post-scalding (but before singeing), and on entering the cooler. Each targeted harvest step was represented by a composite swab sample of 100 cm² that included the ham, belly, and jowl of each carcass. All swabs were transported back to Lubbock, Texas where they were analyzed for Salmonella using a commercial real-time PCR assay. All presumptive positive samples were subjected to culture and serological confirmation. A Chi-square analysis was performed via PROC FREQ on SAS (version 9.4; SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) to compare the frequency of Salmonella by harvest step. Significance was detected at P ≤ 0.05.

Salmonella was significantly reduced from 34.1% (15/44) at post-exsanguination to 4.6% (2/44) after scalding and ultimately to 2.3% (1/44) at cooler ready (P < 0.0001).

Our data indicate that process control during harvest managed to significantly reduce the presence of Salmonella on the surface of pork carcasses. This information can be used to better understand the frequency of Salmonella in pork and develop methods to further manage Salmonella on final pork carcasses through the harvest practices used in the Bahamas.