Incidence of Salmonella in Five Swedish Slaughterhouses

Five Swedish slaughterhouses where pig slaughter takes place were sampled and tested for Salmonella. Each slaughterhouse was visited six times, and sampling was done repeatedly at specific points in the slaughter line during the day. Both sampling of pork carcasses and the slaughterhouse environment was done. This study was part of a larger European project, entitled Salmonella in Pork (Salinpork), with the aim of identifying specific risk points or risk factors associated with Salmonella contamination that contribute to health hazards for humans. During the study, a total of 3,388 samples from the five slaughterhouses were collected and cultured for Salmonella. All of the samples were culture negative for Salmonella.