Sanitary risk assessment at the Municipal Slaughtering Center of Portoviejo – Manabí, Ecuador

Abstract

The sanitary risk in the slaughterhouse corresponds to the probabilities that the meat is biological, chemical or physically contaminated by hazard agents in the environment, materials, equipment, due to incorrect hygiene and mishandling due to intentional or unintentional operators and other factors that could be dangerous human health or life as a result of exposure, and that it is necessary to identify for the respective corrective measures. The objective of the research was to evaluate the sanitary risks of the slaughtering center in the City of Portoviejo–Manabí, Ecuador. The research was observational, descriptive and qualitative–quantitative. The population consisted of the elements that conform the establishment, and the sample consisted of the cattle processing line. Using observation and the logical–deductive method, and instruments like the survey guides and the good practice compliance guide backed by experts. For the process the surveys was used Tableau Desktop software version 2023.1. For statistical processing was used RapidMiner Studio software version 9.9, the Random Forests algorithm was used to obtain the weight of each question and to visualize the decision tree, for which the model was trained with 30% of the data; this was applied to the operator and veterinarian surveys. The research work had the authorization CBI–UTM–INT–23–03–01_MHDD from the Institutional Bioethics Committee of the Technical University of Manabí. The risks of meat contamination are related to the old infrastructure of the slaughterhouse, lack of waste management and insufficient training of operators, which are consistent with the MEDIUM level of compliance with Good Practices; this should be considered as a warning for public health. The implementation of training programmes for operators to raise awareness on hygiene and proper meat handling and sustainable waste management strategies is necessary requirement.