Abstract
Sheep are considered one of important protein sources in Egypt; due to its availability, nutritional value, and desirable taste, mutton and its edible offals are of good consumer demands. Hygienic profile of the slaughter house facilities and personnel handle fresh carcasses play the major role of its safety and compatability for human consumption. Therefore, this study aimed to detect the bacteriological profile of ninety random fresh samples of sheep meat, liver, and lungs (30 of each) collected from immediately eviscerated sheep carcasses in private slaughter houses in Eastern-Owinat, New Valley province, Egypt. Assessment of the bacteriological quality of the examined samples was conducted to investigate their hygienic quality and safety for human consumption. Results showed variable contamination levels in accordance of mean values of aerobic plate counts (APC), Enterobacteriacae counts (EC), coliform counts (CC), and Staphylococcus counts (SC). Accordingly, the liver samples were the highest contaminated samples with APC, EC, and CC with mean values of 3.06x105, 2.1x104, and 1.2x104 CFU/g, respectively; while mutton samples were the most contaminated with SC with incidence and mean value of 8.0x10 (46.66%). Referring to C. perferingens, it was detected in 13.3% of the examined liver and lung samples, and 16.66% of examined meat samples; with mean values of 1.7x10, 1.3x10, and 1.5x10 CFU/g, respectively. The obtained results indicated that fresh mutton and edible offals may pose a risk to consumer's health in the absence of food safety knowledge and hygiene application, therefore, strict hygienic measures and authority inspection is strongly recommended.