Aerobic plate counts (APC 37 degrees C and APC 25 degrees C) and Escherichia coli enumerations (Petrifilm) were used to determine sources of bacterial contamination during sheep dressing, determine the hygienic efficacy of hand wash and knife 'sterilization' procedures and compare the hygiene efficiency of conventional and inverted sheep dressing systems. The major slaughterline sources of microbial contamination were: fleece > workers' hands > faecal pellets > knife blades. Aerobic plate counts (APC 37 degrees C) exceeding log 4.4 cfu cm(-2) were considered indicative of direct fleece contact, whereas E. coli numbers exceeding log 3.3 cfu cm(-2) were considered indicative of direct faecal contact. A 44 degrees C water hand rinse removed 90% of the microbial contamination from workers' hands, but rinsed hands, particularly those contacting the fleece, still carried a microbial population exceeding log 4.0 cfu cm(-2). A 44 degrees C rinse followed by an 82 degrees C water dip reduced the contamination on knife blades to less than log 3.0 cfu cm(-2). Inverted dressing systems produced carcasses with a lower contamination level than conventional systems. With both systems little increase in contamination occurred after pelt removal. The areas of highest contamination were the forequarter region with inverted dressing and the hindquarter with conventional dressing. In both cases these regions are the sites where cuts are made through the skin. With both systems contamination around these cuts was entirely consistent with direct fleece contact resulting from 'rollback'.
