Meat Condemnations and Economic Importance in the Northern and Southern Egyptian Abattoirs

Food animals are important sources of protein of high quality and essential nutrients. However, a large number of carcasses and offals are condemned in slaughterhouse as a result of various diseases. An abattoir study was performed at two uninvestigated regions in Egypt for two years (2017-2018) in order to identify the chief causes of meat condemnation and the subsequent economic loss. A retrospective survey was carried out on the North and South of Egypt, The northern region was represented by Alexandria abattoir and owing to the full lack of information in the Southern region it was represented by two abattoirs; Qena and Aswan abattoirs. Ante-mortem and postmortem examinations were carried out and the findings of inspections were recorded and analyzed. Moreover, the financial loss was determined. Out of 167812 animals were slaughtered in the three abattoirs, 68 (0.04%) animals were totally condemned. In addition to, 3198 (1.9%) lungs, 1447 (0.86%) hearts, 4290 (2.55%) livers, 535 (0.31%) heads, 291 (0.17%) kidneys and 765 (0.45%) spleens were condemned. This work revealed that the economic loss due to meat condemnation in three slaughterhouses was 4529010 Egyptian pound (383063 USD). The main causes of meat condemnation were tuberculosis, icterus, parasitic cyst, pneumonia, hydronephrosis and fascioliasis. The incidence of meat rejection and financial loss in the Aswan slaughterhouse was significantly high. The revenue damage caused by meat condemnations was high in comparison to the amount of local income. The findings of the current work highlighted the necessity for the development of an effective control program for the causes of meat condemnation in Egypt.