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Rosamilia A, Galletti G, Benedetti S, Guarnieri C, Luppi A, Capezzuto S, Tamba M, Merialdi G, Marruchella G. Condemnation of Porcine Carcasses: A Two-Year Long Survey in an Italian High-Throughput Slaughterhouse. Vet Sci 2023; 10:482. [PMID: 37505886 PMCID: PMC10386549 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci10070482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection at slaughter are performed by Official Veterinarians and it is essential to identify alterations/lesions, which can make organs/carcasses unsuitable for human consumption. Obviously, carcass condemnation must be regarded as a highly undesirable event for the entire swine industry chain, as it represents the total failure of a long period of challenging work. Therefore, it seems valuable to estimate the prevalence and causes of carcasses condemnation, in order to preserve consumers' health and pig farming profitability. Bearing that in mind, the present study aimed at providing a reliable picture of the condemnation of porcine carcasses in Italy, with a special emphasis being placed upon pathological findings. Data were collected in a high-throughput abattoir located in northern Italy, where a total of 2,062,278 pigs were slaughtered during the period of study (2021-2022). Overall, 1362 pigs were considered unfit for slaughtering after ante-mortem inspection, mostly because of death during transportation or in resting pens, after their arrival at the abattoir. Moreover, 2007 carcasses were condemned after post-mortem inspection. The most common causes of condemnation were severe and diffuse peritonitis, disseminated abscesses, jaundice, and erysipelas. In our opinion, the present survey may provide useful and updated information about the condemnation of pig carcasses in Italy. At the same time, it highlights the need to collect data in a more systematic and standardized way, thus making possible their comparison over time and among different geographic areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfonso Rosamilia
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini" (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
| | - Giorgio Galletti
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini" (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
| | | | | | - Andrea Luppi
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini" (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
| | | | - Marco Tamba
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini" (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Merialdi
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini" (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Marruchella
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Località Piano d'Accio, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
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Andoni E, Cocoli S, Miraglia D, Balzaretti CM, Brecchia G, Bijo B, Menchetti L, Musa L, Curone G, Agradi S, Kumbe I, Zalla P, Gjoni E, Bixheku X, Castrica M. Ante-mortem and Post-mortem Inspection and Relationship between Findings in a North Albanian Pig Slaughterhouse. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13061032. [PMID: 36978573 PMCID: PMC10044242 DOI: 10.3390/ani13061032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
In June 2014, Albania was granted EU candidate status, thus starting a process of compliance with the membership criteria. In this context, a modern meat inspection approach in line with the European legislation was applied to a pig slaughterhouse in northern Albania in order to investigate the ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) conditions and the relationship between these findings. For this purpose, 3930 pigs divided into 35 batches were evaluated over a 3-month period. The most frequent AM conditions recorded were tail lesions and dyspnea (9.1%), followed by skin (8.9%) and ear lesions (8.5%), while in the PM inspections, pleuritis was the most frequently observed condition (10.2%), followed by pneumonia (8.5%), liver alterations (5.7%), milk spot liver (3.8%), and pericarditis (3.3%). With the exception of liver alterations, the other PM lesions mentioned were positively associated with lesions on the ears (OR = 1.036; p < 0.001) and skin (OR = 1.026; p = 0.011) and dyspnea (OR = 1.021; p = 0.005), confirming the link between these variables and the health and welfare conditions of pigs on farms. Overall, the evidence that emerged from this Albanian slaughterhouse can be considered in line with other European contexts, especially in light of the considerable variability in the data present in the literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Egon Andoni
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Albania, 1029 Kamez, Albania
| | - Sonila Cocoli
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Albania, 1029 Kamez, Albania
| | - Dino Miraglia
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Claudia M. Balzaretti
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
| | - Gabriele Brecchia
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
| | - Bizena Bijo
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Albania, 1029 Kamez, Albania
| | - Laura Menchetti
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino, Italy
| | - Laura Musa
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Via San Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
| | - Giulio Curone
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
| | - Stella Agradi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
| | - Ilirian Kumbe
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Albania, 1029 Kamez, Albania
| | - Pellumb Zalla
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural University of Albania, 1029 Kamez, Albania
| | - Edison Gjoni
- National Authority of Veterinary and Plant Protection, Rr “Jordan Misja”, Pall 14/1 shk, 1001 Tirane, Albania
| | - Xhilola Bixheku
- Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education, Rruga Durrsit, Nr 219, 1001 Tirane, Albania
| | - Marta Castrica
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, Italy
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Teixeira DL, Salazar LC, Larraín R, Boyle LA. The capacity of inspection on farm and at the abattoir to predict post-mortem outcomes in slaughter pigs: A study at animal level. Anim Sci J 2023; 94:e13798. [PMID: 36583303 PMCID: PMC10078554 DOI: 10.1111/asj.13798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate associations between ear, tail, and skin lesions, hernias, bursitis, and rectal prolapses at the abattoir and meat inspection outcomes in slaughter pigs, including carcass condemnations and trimmings, carcass weight, and carcass quality. This was an observational study whereby pigs were managed according to routine practices in a single abattoir. Data were collected from 1816 pigs. The relationship between animal-based welfare and post-mortem outcomes was analyzed using generalized mixed models (Proc Glimmix). Our findings showed that tail lesions were associated with entire carcass condemnations and trimmings (P < 0.001), a reduction in carcass weight (P < 0.05), and a potential to impair carcass quality by reducing muscle pH (P < 0.05), especially in carcasses from male pigs (P < 0.05). Additionally, hernias were associated with viscera condemnation (P < 0.05) and a reduction in carcass weight (P < 0.05). Therefore, our findings confirm that ante-mortem inspection could be useful to predict post-mortem outcomes in the same pigs, especially in cases of tail lesions and hernia, which might trigger attention of the veterinary inspector in charge of the post-mortem inspection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayane Lemos Teixeira
- Department of Animal and AgricultureHartpury University and Hartpury CollegeGloucesterUK
- Instituto de Ciencias Agroalimentarias, Animales y Ambientales (ICA3)Universidad de O'HigginsSan FernandoChile
| | - Laura C. Salazar
- Departamento de Ciencias AnimalesPontificia Universidad Católica de ChileSantiagoChile
| | - Rafael Larraín
- Departamento de Ciencias AnimalesPontificia Universidad Católica de ChileSantiagoChile
| | - Laura A. Boyle
- Pig Development DepartmentTeagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, MooreparkFermoy, Co. CorkIreland
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Teixeira DL, Salazar LC, Boyle LA. The capacity of ante-mortem inspection of pigs at the abattoir to predict post-mortem findings and associated financial implications: A study at batch level. Anim Sci J 2023; 94:e13843. [PMID: 37247869 DOI: 10.1111/asj.13843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the associations between severe ear, tail, and skin lesions, hernias, bursitis, and rectal prolapses and meat inspection finding in slaughter pigs, including carcass weight and financial implications associated with carcass condemnations at batch level. Data were collected from 13,296 pigs from 116 batches from a single abattoir. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated to analyze the degree of association between the prevalence of welfare issues and condemnation findings. The association between batch-level results of carcass weight, batch size, and the prevalence of welfare issues was analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. The prevalence of tail lesions was significantly associated with both entire (r = 0.224; p = 0.0432) and partial (r = 0.276; p = 0.0120) carcass condemnation. Batches with pigs affected by more than one welfare issue were 9.9 kg lighter than those without welfare issues (p < 0.05), which was equivalent to a potential loss of €11.28 per pig. Our findings indicate that ante-mortem inspection could be useful to predict post-mortem findings at batch level and that welfare issues in pigs represent a financial loss to producers, as they are paid on a per kg basis and have tight margins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayane Lemos Teixeira
- Department of Animal and Agriculture, Hartpury University, Gloucester, UK
- Instituto de Ciencias Agroalimentarias, Animales y Ambientales (ICA3), Universidad de O'Higgins, San Fernando, Chile
| | - Laura C Salazar
- Departamento de Ciencias Animales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Laura A Boyle
- Pig Development Department, TEAGASC Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
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Nielsen SS, Alvarez J, Bicout DJ, Calistri P, Canali E, Drewe JA, Garin‐Bastuji B, Gonzales Rojas JL, Schmidt G, Herskin M, Michel V, Miranda Chueca MÁ, Mosbach‐Schulz O, Padalino B, Roberts HC, Stahl K, Velarde A, Viltrop A, Winckler C, Edwards S, Ivanova S, Leeb C, Wechsler B, Fabris C, Lima E, Mosbach‐Schulz O, Van der Stede Y, Vitali M, Spoolder H. Welfare of pigs on farm. EFSA J 2022; 20:e07421. [PMID: 36034323 PMCID: PMC9405538 DOI: 10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
This scientific opinion focuses on the welfare of pigs on farm, and is based on literature and expert opinion. All pig categories were assessed: gilts and dry sows, farrowing and lactating sows, suckling piglets, weaners, rearing pigs and boars. The most relevant husbandry systems used in Europe are described. For each system, highly relevant welfare consequences were identified, as well as related animal-based measures (ABMs), and hazards leading to the welfare consequences. Moreover, measures to prevent or correct the hazards and/or mitigate the welfare consequences are recommended. Recommendations are also provided on quantitative or qualitative criteria to answer specific questions on the welfare of pigs related to tail biting and related to the European Citizen's Initiative 'End the Cage Age'. For example, the AHAW Panel recommends how to mitigate group stress when dry sows and gilts are grouped immediately after weaning or in early pregnancy. Results of a comparative qualitative assessment suggested that long-stemmed or long-cut straw, hay or haylage is the most suitable material for nest-building. A period of time will be needed for staff and animals to adapt to housing lactating sows and their piglets in farrowing pens (as opposed to crates) before achieving stable welfare outcomes. The panel recommends a minimum available space to the lactating sow to ensure piglet welfare (measured by live-born piglet mortality). Among the main risk factors for tail biting are space allowance, types of flooring, air quality, health status and diet composition, while weaning age was not associated directly with tail biting in later life. The relationship between the availability of space and growth rate, lying behaviour and tail biting in rearing pigs is quantified and presented. Finally, the panel suggests a set of ABMs to use at slaughter for monitoring on-farm welfare of cull sows and rearing pigs.
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