Evaluation of Microbiological Quality of Halal Beef Intended for Export from Khartoum State, Sudan

Aims: To evaluate halal criteria of beef microbiological quality intended for export in two slaughterhouses.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Khartoum State, Sudan between August and November 2022.

Methodology: Samples were collected by using the non-destructive dry swab method for microbiological quality sampling of beef and a standardized checklist to evaluate good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and good hygienic practices (GHPs). Restraining methods were categorized as “modern method” where the full inversion rotary casting box was used which resembled slaughterhouse “A” or “conventional method” where a large-sized hammer for blowing the skull was used and this resembled slaughterhouse “B”. A total of 80 male beef cattle were investigated after arrival in the lairages of the designated slaughterhouses. Forty carcasses from each slaughtering method were randomly chosen and swabbed.

Results: The results revealed that halal criteria for the slaughtering methods in slaughterhouse (A) was 100%, while slaughterhouse (B) was 83.2%. Also, this study revealed poor personal hygiene as slaughterhouse A scored 53.2%, while slaughterhouse B scored 33.2% for personal hygiene evaluation. The mean total bacterial count (TBC) was found to be 4.556 x 10⁵ cfu/ml and 5.53275 X 10⁵ cfu/ml in slaughterhouses A and B, respectively with highly significant differences compared to the standard permissible limits (1x 10⁵cfu/ml) with p ≤0.05, while there were no statistically significant differences (0.847) within slaughterhouses with p ≤0.05. Furthermore, the mean total coliform count (TCC) was found to be 16.4795 X10²cfu/ml and 47.8670 X 10²cfu/ml in slaughterhouses A and B, respectively with a highly significant difference compared to the standard permissible limits (1x10²cfu/ml) with p ≤0.05 and also with highly significant differences (0.000) between slaughterhouses themselves with p ≤0.05.

Conclusion: The study concluded that both slaughterhouses failed to meet the requirements of the various beef halal criteria.