|
What is meat juice or a meat exudate sample?
Meat juice or meat exudate is the liquid that escapes from extra-
and intracellular spaces when muscle tissues are frozen and thawed.
Decanting the liquid from the muscle tissues and placing it in a
test tube is a way to harvest the juice or exudates.
The meat-juice type of sampling method has been used extensively
in Europe for the Salmonella control program to determine
herd status and to differentiate risk levels for introduction of Salmonella
in the abattoir. Meat-juice type of sampling is under current
investigation as an optional method for the swine pseudorabies (PRV)
eradication program in the USA.
The crus muscle of the diaphragm (skirt muscle) attached to the
chest wall is the sample of choice because this muscle is
consistently present and easily accessible, its removal from the
carcass will not impact carcass value and only a limited sample size
(10–50 grams) is required to obtain sufficient meat-juice
exudate quantities. Generally, meat samples are placed in
individually marked whirl-pack bags at the processing plant for
freezing and transport. Samples in the abattoir environment may be
aggregated for several hours before being sent to the cooler.
Samples must be frozen throughout to a solid consistency to obtain a
satisfactory yield rate. Overnight freezing is generally sufficient
to obtain this state. Length of time under freezing conditions, once
initially frozen, does not seem to influence yield or testing
results. Frozen samples taken at the abattoir are transported in
plastic coolers to the laboratory by overnight delivery services.
Sample handling in the laboratory starts when the corner end of
the whirl-pack bag is clipped and the juice is poured from the bag
into the label tube for further analysis. To get as much juice or
exudates as possible from each sample, the technician will pull the
meat sample away from the bottom of the bag and gently squeeze the
meat against the bag as it is poured into the test tube. At that
point, the meat juice or exudate sample is ready for analysis.
Some of the appealing characteristics of the meat-juice sampling
method are the reduction of the risk factors that may be related
with the serum sample collection on the farm.
Other benefits include improvement of biosecurity practices, less
management of live animals and less stress for the herd. With this
new type of sampling, the sample can be easily taken at the abattoir
on a larger scale quickly and safely. This process is most
cost-efficient for producers and practical for surveillance,
monitoring and eradication programs.
|
In Swine
Testing
This symbol indicates PDF-formatted materials. To view, you may need to 