Post Mortem Inspection & Carcase Grading Flashcards
Who performs the Post Mortem inspection at an abbatoir?
Meat Hygiene Inspector- employed by the FSA and works on behalf of Vets
Which legislation requires a vet (or equivalent) to perform Post Mortem inspections at Abattoirs?
852/2004
853/2004
What three reasons may cause a carcass to be rejected?
Has pathogens that can infect humans
Aesthetic reasons
Legal requirement e.g. identification issues, antemortem wasn’t performed
What is the purpose of Regulation EU 2019/ 627 Article 45?
Measures in place for cases of non-compliance with requirements for fresh meat (reasons for rejection of a carcass)
How would you perform a Post Mortem of a sheep under 12 months and over 12 months?
Under 12 months- visual inspection
Over 12 months- palpation and incision of liver
How would you perform a Post Mortem of a cow under 12 months and over 12 months?
Under 12 months- brief palpation
Over 12 months- palpation of lungs, incision of masseter muscles, heart and lymph nodes
What does Regulation EU 2019/627 Article 18 and 19 state regarding inspection requirements of cows?
Cows over 8 months old must receive palpation of lungs, incision of masseter muscles, heart and lymph nodes
Why is it a requirement to incise and examine the retropharyngeal nodes in cows during the post mortem?
This is where bTB starts
What pneumonic is used to remember the conditions seen on head Post mortem?
MISSMAXFACTOR
What pneumonic is used to remember conditions seen on Bovine Kidneys post mortem?
SPINPATCH
When does a carcass receive its health mark? (3)
After it has been-
Inspected for signs of pathology
Checked for signs of contamination/ cleanliness assessed
Checked for signs of specified risk material
What does a health mark contain? (2)
Abattoir approval number
Country code
What does ‘EC’ on the health mark mean?
Means it can be traded without restrictions in the EU as it follows rules of the European commission
[brexit means we don’t stamp with EC anymore]
What are the challenges/ disadvantages of a Post Mortem Inspection?
Conditions without lesions are missed (including notifiable diseases with no specific lesions)
Done very fast which increases the chance of mistakes (e.g. 3 seconds per chicken, 10-20 seconds per sheep/cow)
What is the EUROP grading system and how does it work?
Way of grading carcasses at the end of the slaughter line BEFORE chilling- works by looking at carcass conformation rates it E for excellent to P for poor and then fat cover with 1 for leanest to 5 for most fat cover
