Introduction

Meat hygiene is the management of conditions and implementation of the specific measures necessary to ensure the safety and suitability of meat at all stages of the meat production chain. It is also the efforts made to safeguard food from becoming health hazard and to prevent early spoilage and contamination caused by handling of the meat. In living, healthy animals’ bacteria in the gut are usually prevented from invading the surrounding tissues and the blood system, or their growth is controlled, by the mucous lining of the gut wall, by antibodies in the blood and by phagocytosis by reticulo-endothelial cells especially in the lymph nodes. Normally therefore, the tissues of healthy animals are sterile. In contradiction, meat does not possess these factors and get contaminated easily. Spoilage microorganisms can come either from outside the animal, from the gut, by being introduced at slaughter on the bolt of the captive bolt stunning pistol, on the blade of the sticking knife and so on.