March 26, 2008

US researches on lairage facilities to cut down salmonella level
 

The Food Safety Consortium (FSC) of Iowa State University is researching on whether lairage facilities at hog slaughter plants have minimal effective doses of salmonella.

The FSC researchers obtained salmonella test results on faecal samples within six hours by using a polymerase chain reaction, which is a technique for augmenting DNA sequences fragments for laboratory analysis.

Lairage operators could implement sanitation procedures to bring down salmonella levels as necessary once the results are released.

Initial results of pens in one slaughter plant showed that the facility's procedures reduced cross-contamination of salmonella among different groups of incoming pigs. Further research will probe the level of similar effectiveness on samples from another plant.