The decontaminating performance of a commercial apparatus for pasteurizing polished pig carcasses

An apparatus that delivers sheets of water at 85 degrees C onto polished, uneviscerated pig carcasses was routinely operated at a commercial pork packing plant during a 3 month period. The apparatus was sized to accommodate a maximum throughput of 1200 carcasses h(-1), with each carcass being subjected to the flow of hot water for 15 s. During the time of the study, carcasses were processed at rates between 600 and 800 h(-1). The treatment with hot wafer reduced the numbers of non-thermotolerant bacteria on carcasses, including coliforms and Escherichia coli by about two orders of magnitude. The water that was recirculated over carcasses carried <1 bacterium ml(-1), and was largely free of fat, but it accumulated suspended and settling solids in amounts of about 24 mg l(-1) per 100 treated carcasses and 2.3 mg l(-1) per 100 treated carcasses, respectively. The apparatus offers a commercially acceptable means of pasteurizing polished pig carcasses. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.