Localised heat treatment of carcasses and cuts

The aim was to test additional physical treatments to reduce the bacterial load on the surface of carcasses and marketed cuts in order to process non-conformance and high-risk batches effectively. The processes (2 blowtorches + 1 hot air stripper) implemented to handle non-conformance in four facilities were studied. The enterobacteria counts obtained did not enable us to compare the efficacy of the treatments, but total mesophile counts showed a reduction of bacterial contamination that made it possible to carry out an assessment of the methods used. The different processes used, in particular the blowtorch for carcasses and the hot air stripper for cuts, offered useful alternatives to trimming. Being flameless, the hot air stripper allowed a more closely controlled operation for the same efficacy and treatment time than the blowtorch method.