Exposure Assessment of Spp. in Fresh Pork Meat from Two Abattoirs in Colombia

spp. prevails as the main cause of raw meat foodborne illnesses. Implementation of food safety management systems such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points in swine abattoirs can help to mitigate pathogen exposure. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the HACCP system in slaughterhouses in Colombia on reducing spp. exposure due to the consumption of fresh pork meat. Two slaughtering plants with a different degree of HACCP implementation were selected and a quantitative microbiological mapping was built by collecting 820 samples of spp. enumeration at different processing stages. The overall spp. mean concentration was 1.15 ± 0.55 log MPN/g, with no significant differences among plants ( > 0.05). Deficiencies during carcass disinfection and temperature during distribution of meat cuts from the slaughterhouse lacking of HACCP resulted in a significant increase of spp. prevalence (20-40%) ( < 0.05). Processing stages with the highest pathogen prevalence were transport (28-32%) and hanging (16-36%). The exposure assessment model estimated a higher degree of pathogen contamination at the time of consumption in meat cuts from the slaughterhouse without HACCP (3.36 versus 3.68 log MPN/g) and 10-fold increase in the probability a consumer would acquire a contaminated portion (0.011 versus 0.105). Implementation of the HACCP system in swine slaughterhouses represents tangible spp. reduction control and public health protection measures.