title: An exposure assessment model of the prevalence of Salmonella spp. along the processing stages of Brazilian beef.
abstract: Beef cattle carrying Salmonella spp. represents a risk for contamination of meat and meat products. This study aimed to build an exposure assessment model elucidating the changes in Salmonella prevalence in Brazilian beef along the processing stages. To this effect, the results of a number of published studies reporting Salmonella incidences were assembled in order to model conversion factors based on beta distributions representing the effect of every production stage on the Salmonella incidence on beef carcasses. A random-effects meta-analysis modelled the hide-to-carcass transfer of Salmonella contamination. The Monte Carlo simulation estimated the Salmonella prevalence in beef cuts from processing plants to be ∼6.1% (95% CI: 1.4-17.7%), which was in reasonable agreement with a pool (n = 105) of surveys' data of Salmonella in Brazilian beef cuts (mean 4.9%; 95% CI: 1.8-11.5%) carried out in commercial establishments. The results not only underscored the significant increase in Salmonella prevalence that can occur during evisceration/splitting and boning but also reinforced that, when hygienic slaughter procedures are properly implemented, the load of Salmonella can be reduced at dehiding, rinsing and chilling. As the model was based on a systematic review and meta-analysis, it synthesised all available knowledge on the incidence of Salmonella in Brazilian beef.
authors.affiliation: CIMO Mountain Research Centre, School of Agriculture (ESA), Polytechnic Institute of Braganza (IPB), Braganza, Portugal ubarron@ipb.pt.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gonzales-Barrón
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Piza
authors.affiliation: CIMO Mountain Research Centre, School of Agriculture (ESA), Polytechnic Institute of Braganza (IPB), Braganza, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ernane
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: CIMO Mountain Research Centre, School of Agriculture (ESA), Polytechnic Institute of Braganza (IPB), Braganza, Portugal.
authors.forename: Vasco
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cadavez
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D002417:Cattle; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015995:Prevalence; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: Simulation; beef cuts; meta-analysis; slaughterhouse; systematic review