The increased demand for foods of animal origin is often linked to the world’s growing human population [1]. Consequently, meat producers, processors, and consumers give higher importance to meat safety [2]. The main source of protein, vitamins, and nutrients for the development and functioning of body cells is meat [3]. Worldwide, foodborne diseases are associated with the consumption of spoiled foods, which may occur during processing, among which meat processing has been attributed as a primary source of illness when contaminated [4].
The main source of foodborne diseases is through ingestion of meat contaminated by pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella species, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Campylobacter species [7]. Meat that is improperly handled may result in meat contaminated by pathogenic bacteria and can lead to health hazards for the consumer [8]. Due to the high likelihood of meat contamination at the butchery level, butcheries play a significant part in the prevention of meat-borne diseases.
Often, meat handlers’ poor personal hygiene operates as a vector for the spread of microbes through their hands, wounds, lips, skins, and hair [10,11]. If proper sanitation and hygiene procedures, such as washing hands, wearing protective clothes, cleaning and sanitizing butchery equipment and utensils, are not followed, bacterial contamination, meat loss, and post-harvest meat shortages arise [12]. The wholesomeness of meat is a shared responsibility for all individuals in the food chain. To correct the errors from farm to fork, there is a deep need of education and training in the prevention of foodborne diseases among abattoir workers, butchery, meat producers, suppliers, handlers, and the general public [11].
Standard and hygienic ways of handling and processing meats are generally neglected in developing countries [15]. According to the World health Organization, foodborne illnesses are estimated to have caused 600 million cases, 420,000 deaths, and approximately 33 million years of life of impairment worldwide in 2010, with Africa facing the greatest burden of mortality [1,16]. In order to reduce microbial contamination, hygienic handling techniques during preparation, distribution, storage, and retail sales must be improved [1]. For health and safety reasons, it is essential to always wear protective gear and wash hands before and after selling meat [13].
Several studies investigated meat safety knowledge and practices [8,9,18], while others determined the handling of meat practices along the beef supply chain [12,17] and bacteriological quality of meat from abattoir and butcher shops [17,19] in different countries. There is a critical need in the literature to investigate the practices of food handlers in their everyday activities of employment and the potential sources of microbiological contaminants that can impair the quality of meat products [2]. The presence of hygiene measures has an impact on hygiene, however, developed countries with excellent levels of hygiene also have foodborne illnesses [20].
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In South Africa, studies on meat safety practices and hygiene were done among slaughterhouse workers [6], as well as studies on game meat production for animal class and health compliance [21], on the management of meat safety in abattoirs [22] and on the traditional slaughter of goats [23]. To protect the population from food-borne bacterial diseases, it is necessary to educate and campaign for proper sanitation and meat-handling practices in abattoirs and butcher shops [1,8,24].
The objective of this study was to evaluate meat safety practices and hygiene among different butcheries and retail supermarkets in Vhembe district. The results of this study may provide information on whether good manufacturing practices of meat are being fully followed at the retail level and whether they pose a threat to the health of the public. Good hygienic practices are required to reduce the risk of microbial contamination during meat processing.
Study Methodology
The study was conducted from October to November 2021 at thirty-two butcheries and supermarkets found in Vhembe district, including 8 commercial butcheries situated in Thohoyandou, Shayandima, Sibasa and Elim, 6 village butcheries situated in Tsianda, Lwamondo, Matsila, Levubu, Masia and Vuwani and 18 supermarkets situated in Thohoyandou, Phangami, Sibasa, Mphephu, Biaba, Dzanani, Tshilamba and Makonde, within Vhembe district. The Vhembe district is located in Limpopo province, which is in the northern part of South Africa. Village butcheries operated as independent retail establishments and each village butchery had about 2 to 3 employed workers; commercial butcheries also operated as independent retail establishments and had about 3 to 7 employed workers on site. In supermarkets, butcheries were situated within stores that sell various products such as groceries, food supplies and baked goods. Supermarket butcheries had 5 to 8 workers on-site at the time of the study.
Data were collected through direct personal observation using a structured questionnaire survey checklist to assess beef meat safety and hygiene practice in various village butcheries, commercial butcheries, and supermarkets (Table 1). The survey checklist was adapted and modified from questionnaires and survey checklists in similar previous studies [1,6,24,25]. The questions involved the following themes: (i) socio-demographic characteristics of the participants; (ii) hygiene of meat handlers; (iii) cleanliness of working clothes; (iv) infrastructure, and maintenance of hygiene in supermarket/butchery; (v) the display of meat in butchery/supermarket.
The collected data were entered into a Microsoft Excel spread sheet (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA) and analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics for Windows, version 28 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The data were summarized using descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentage. A one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the difference between the various butcheries. A p-value of less than 0.05 was set as a significance level. The meat safety practices at various butcheries were described descriptively.
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Key Findings
Table 2 summarizes the sociodemographic characteristics of the butchery workers from various butcheries in the Vhembe district. Workers (n = 177) were both males and females ranging from 18 to 54 years. Most (68%) participants at the supermarket butcheries studied up to secondary school and only a few (6%) from the village butcheries obtained primary education.
The majority (72%) of supermarket butcheries required workers to wash hands prior to work and many (89%) used protective gloves before handling meat. All supermarket butcheries workers wore personal protective equipment such as an apron or coat, protective boots and a hairnet while handling meat. Among the retail shops, 67% wore long protective clothes. However, they did not completely cover personal clothes. Among the commercial butcheries, 50% washed their hands. The majority (75%) wore gloves prior to meat handling, while 25% handled meat with either bare hands or a plastic bag before distributing it to the consumer. Aprons or coats were worn by all commercial butchery workers; while 62% wore the same protective clothes when carrying out other activities in the butchery throughout the day, 75% wore hairnets. In all commercial butcheries, staff workers handling money were separate from those handling meat.
At the village butcheries, 67% washed their hands prior to meat handling, however this was with water placed in a plastic basin/bucket. The water utilized had been previously used to wash hands and contained a dish cloth used to wipe the hands and counters of the butchery. Most of the time, the water contained dishwashing liquid or soap. Protective gloves were worn in only 17% of the village butcheries most of the butcheries (83%) handled meat with bare hands or a plastic bag. All village butchery staff wore either an apron or gown; 33% wore protective boots, 67% wore open sandals or shoes. All village butchery workers wore the apron or coats while carrying out other activities besides meat handling. At the village butcheries, all workers handling money were also handling meat. In Approximately 33% of the village butcheries, workers were observed to be wearing jewelry.
The majority (67%) of supermarket butchery workers had recent dirt (fresh particles of meat or blood) on work clothes and 17% of butcheries had ingrained dirt (old particles of meat and blood stains) on work clothes. At commercial butcheries, 38% of the butcheries had recent dirt covering working clothes, and 22% had ingrained dirt on their work clothes. Many (100%) of the village butcheries had recent dirt covering their work clothes and 33% had ingrained dirt on them.
All supermarket butcheries had walls, floors, and ceilings in good condition. All the retail shops had a safe water supply and pest control devices. However, 61% had dirty floors. Fifty-eight percent had clean counter and hooks; moreover, seventy-two percent had clean cutting tables for meat and a waste management system. Among the commercial butcheries, 87% had good structures. however, 13% had cracked walls and floors and 38% contained dirty floors. Sixty-two percent were identified with cleaning cloths and detergents and seventy-five percent of them had pest control devices. None of the commercial butcheries utilized paper towels. However, 75% percent of them properly confined and disposed waste. At the village butcheries, 50% of the structures had walls, floors, and ceilings in good condition, while 50% had ceilings and walls that were tearing down and where we observed cracked tiles on the floor. Seventy-five percent of the village butcheries had a safe water supply, while twenty-five percent had water supplied from water reservoir tanks instead of directly from the tap. The majority of the village butcheries (83%) confined, as well as properly managed and disposed of waste. However, 17% lacked a dustbin and disposed waste on the dumpster site outside of the building of the butchery. Approximately 67% of the village butcheries had cleaning cloths, detergents, and pest control devices.
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Among the supermarket butcheries, 83% displayed meat of different species separate from offal on a meat display fridge. In 89% of the supermarket butcheries, meat appeared red in color without an unpleasant odor and in 17% of the supermarket butcheries meat appeared dark brown. The majority (87%) of the commercial butcheries displayed meats of different species separate from offal in a window display fridge, 62% had meat that appeared red in color and 38% had meat that appeared dark brown and had an unpleasant odor. At the village butcheries, 67% displayed meats of different species and offal separately in a window display, 83% of the butcheries had meat that appeared red in color, while 17% had meat that appeared dark brown with unpleasant odor.
Table 4 summarizes the mean and standard error of meat safety practices among various butcheries and supermarkets in the Vhembe district., Limpopo, South Africa. The village, commercial and supermarket butcheries did not significantly differ based on the washing of hands, wearing of apron, gloves, hairnets, jewelry, butchery shop floor cleanliness, cutting tables, water supply, detergents, and pest control devices (ANOVA p > 0.05). Employees at village butcheries washed hands more than those at commercial butcheries (Mean = 0.67, standard error (SE = 0.211)), however workers at commercial butcheries wore gloves, hairnets, and waterproof boots more than village butcheries (Mean = 0.75, standard error (SE = 0.164)); all butcheries had a water supply, however, some village butcheries had water supplied from reservoir tanks instead of directly from the tap. This water had been collected from the nearest borehole, transferred into the reservoir tanks, and stored for present and future use. Moreover, they wore aprons while handling meat (Mean = 1.00, standard error (SE = 0.00)).
For the purpose of providing safe and fresh meat for human consumption, it is vital to practice and maintain good hygiene during meat handling [9]. We evaluated meat safety practices and hygiene among supermarkets, commercial and village butcheries in the Vhembe district, Limpopo, South Africa. This study was motivated by the need of information to guide food safety policy development, good manufacturing practices and training in meat handling and hygiene in butcheries of all levels. The discussion that follows focuses on the primary meat processing techniques and their potential public health implications. Moreover, the practices are discussed considering the demands of the South African proclamations: Foodstuffs, Cosmetics & Disinfectants Act of 1972: General Hygiene Requirements for Food Premises, Food Transport, and Related Matters R 638 (Act 54 of 1972) [26].
In the present study, the washing of hands, wearing protective gloves, boots, coats, and hairnets were good practices identified at the supermarket butcheries. Gutema et al. [1] also observed at slaughterhouses in Bishoftu, Ethiopia that the use of aprons, white coats, boots, and hair coverings were good practices at slaughterhouses.
Table 1: Meat safety and hygiene practices among various butcheries and supermarkets
| Practice | Supermarkets | Commercial Butcheries | Village Butcheries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washing of hands before work | 72% | 50% | 67% |
| Use of protective gloves | 89% | 75% | 17% |
| Wearing of aprons/coats | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Wearing of hairnets | 100% | 75% | N/A |
| Separate handling of money and meat | N/A | 100% | 0% |
Map of Limpopo Province in South Africa, where the Vhembe district is located.
Traditional butchers in South Africa
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