EVALUATION OF THE TRANSPORT TIME OF CARCASSES TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN CASE OF ON-FARM EMERGENCY SLAUGHTER ANIMALS

Schedule III, section I, chapter VI of Regulation (CE) 853/2004 governs on-farm emergency slaughter (OFES). It specifies that transport to the slaughterhouse must occur "without undue delay," and if the journey exceeds two hours, the carcass must be refrigerated. Active chilling is not mandatory where climatic conditions suffice. At the slaughterhouse, the official veterinarian checks the accompanying OFES animal document (Modello 1) to verify the elapsed time from slaughter to arrival. Any discrepancies between the certified causes of OFES and post-arrival findings may lead to the carcass being deemed unfit for human consumption and the official veterinarian informs the competent authority for the territory of the farm of origin. Time from slaughter at the farm to evisceration at the abattoir of OFES carcases is important because can promote bacterial contamination risk of meat in the event of late evisceration (1). Precise postmortem carcass deterioration timelines remain unclear due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as temperature and humidity. (2). In 2023, a study was carried out to examine health certificates (Modello 1), as mandated by Article 4 of Regulation (UE) 2019/624 and Schedule IV, Chapter V of Regulation (UE) 2020/2235. The analysis focused on OFES carcasses within the district of the Modena local health authority (AUSL) to assess adherence to transport time regulations from the point of slaughter to their arrival at the slaughterhouse. The Modena AUSL jurisdiction spans 2,688 square kilometres and includes four districts: Pavullo, Vignola, Carpi-Mirandola, and Modena-Sassuolo-Castelfranco. In 2023, this territory housed 1,002 cattle farms, with a total of 95,207 bovines. From the 926 cases of on-farm emergency slaughter (OFES), representing 1.7% of the bovine population, 855 health certificates documenting carcass transport journeys were analysed, covering 92.3% of OFES cases. The study identified 11 destination slaughterhouses. No carcasses were transported using refrigerated trucks, and slaughter time coincided with the loading of carcasses onto transport vehicles. Using Google Maps, the average distance between farms and slaughterhouses was calculated as 35.7 km (range: 3–120 km; mode: 36.6 km), with an average travel time of 38 minutes (range: 1–130 minutes; mode: 53 minutes). Data revealed that only one OFES carcass exceeded the two-hour transport limit set by EU legislation. Mapping destination slaughterhouses aids in the proactive assessment and management of travel times to ensure compliance with hygienic standards. Minimizing the interval from slaughter to carcass loading remains crucial, particularly during hot weather when refrigerated trucks are unavailable. (1) Nagel-Alne, G. E., Murphy, E., McCauslin, B., Hauge, S. J., Schrøder-Petersen, D. L., Holthe, J., & Alvseike, O. (2022). Meat safety legislation and its opportunities and hurdles for innovative approaches: A review. In Food Control (Vol. 141). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109160 (2) SciCom (Comité scientifique institué auprès de l’Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire), Délai entre la saignée et l’éviscération pendant le processus d’abattage d’ongulés domestiques, AVIS 05-2024, p.1-20