Compliance in slaughterhouses and control measures applied by official veterinarians

• In the slaughterhouses, non-compliance associated with hygiene was most common.
• Differences in official control measures were noted between slaughterhouses.
• Guidance given to official veterinarians should be improved.

Implementation of well-functioning hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)-based self-checking systems (SCSs) is crucial for meat safety in slaughterhouses (SHs). However, if these SCSs fail, control measures used by official veterinarians (OVs) should be efficient enough to secure the safety of the meat. To examine the control measures used by the OVs and the cases of noncompliance in the implementation of SH SCSs, we issued a survey to the chief OVs in high-capacity SHs in Finland during spring 2014. The expertise of the OVs and the quality of guidance they received were also examined. Our results showed that the most common and severe cases of noncompliance in the implementation of high-capacity SH SCSs in Finland were associated with hygiene. Those SHs with high frequencies of noncompliance were all smaller high-capacity units in which written time limits for correction of noncompliance and enforcement measures were less commonly used. Most OVs felt that they did not receive sufficient competent guidance in performing food safety inspections, and in some SHs the expertise of the OVs in administrative procedures and food safety legislation should be improved. To further ensure meat safety, OVs, especially in SHs with high frequencies of noncompliance, should be encouraged to use more effective control measures.