1. UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI
THE POLYTECHNIC
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
SUBMITTED TO : Mr. Zumani B (Lecturer)
SUBMITTED BY : Group Two
JOSEPH JANGIYA EH/07/NE/025
FRANK N. KAPHASO EH/08/ME/062
GEOMETRY KACHEPA EH/08/ME/063
HOPE KAYAWA EH/07/PE/033
MWAYI LIABUNYA EH/07/NE/022
OLIPA TSITSI EH/07/NE/003
GIFT KACHOKA EH/07/PE/039
MERCY M. IKWANGA EH/07/NE/002
MADALITSO KALUA EH/07/PE/032
FRANCIS KUNYADA EH/07/NE/012
EMANUEL KANDAYA TED/07/NE/022
COURSE : MEAT HYGIENE

2. COURSE CODE : EH-304
SUBJECT : CRITIQUE ON MEAT INSPECTION AT
VARIOUS
SLAUGHTER SLABS IN MALAWI
DUE DATE: 05th NOVEMBER, 2010
CRITIQUE REPORT ON MEAT INSPECTION AT DIFFERENT SLAUGHTER
SLABS
1 INTRODUCTION
Meat Inspection, which is part of food hygiene and safety, deals with
hygiene of meat and its products. It aims at ensuring that meat from food
animals is free from diseases or toxic agents, and made wholesome so
that it does not risk the health of people who consume the meat. It is,
therefore, done both before and after slaughtering an animal. Meat
Inspection done before animal slaughter is called Ante-mortem Meat
Inspection and that one done after slaughter is called Post-mortem Meat
Inspection.
1.1 The Exercise
A Meat Inspection exercise visit was conducted from 30th Aug – 3rd Sept,
2010 to various slaughter slabs in both within Blantyre and other Districts
by different Group 2 members. The exercise aimed at critiquing on the
Meat Inspection on the ground with reference to the knowledge gained
and skills imparted in class on Meat Hygiene and Inspection at the
University of Malawi (The Polytechnic) right way from handling the
animals through to judgement on the inspection results.
This report is a comprehensive critique on how meat inspection is done, a
compilation from all the areas visited namely Mzimba District Assembly
Slaughter Slab, Lunzu Slaughter Slab, Bvumbwe Slaughter Slab and Nkhata
Bay District Assembly Slaughter Slab, Chikwawa District Assembly
Slaughter Slab.
1.2 Areas looked at while at the slaughter slabs;
The following below are the areas to which the students were taken;
o Orientation at the slaughter slab; - this activity aimed at

3. familiarizing with the butcher men, as well as the view
(layout) of the slaughter slab and its surrounding.
o Assessing the staff involved in meat inspection if
multisectoral.
o Assessing the general personal hygiene of the meat handlers.
o Checking the presence of some animals like dogs at the
slaughter slabs
o Handling of the animals before ante-mortem inspection
o Assess the kinds of animals slaughtered at the slaughter slab
o Orientation on meat inspection; - this aimed at observation
on how practically meat inspection is conducted on food
animals before slaughter and on the carcasses and organs
(after animal slaughter).
o Participation in meat inspection; - this aimed at
institutionalize the knowledge gained and skills imparted
from the lectures
2 CRITIQUE ON THE OBSERVATIONS
2.1 Handling of animals before slaughter
Handling of animals before slaughter involves a lot of activities. One of
the main activities is transportation of the animals to the point of
slaughter. According to Nkhata-bay District assembly Slaughter slab,
animals are transported either by vehicle or by trekking. Trekking is main
one. During either process, the animals are faced with different
conditions.
Since meat inspection practice aims at producing high quality meat which
is fit for human consumption, It is therefore necessary to keep animals
free from contamination during the subsequent movements to the point
of slaughter. Observations showed that animals are being trekked for a
long distance to the slaughter slab and in addition the animals are
subjected to a wide variety of stressors e.g. whipping. They are all often
beaten or shouted at, which sustain them with injuries, even fractures
and bruises. This enhances the spread of those diseases which can easily

4. be transmitted from one animal to the other. As a result, there is a
production of poor quality meat which can have a short shelf life.
According to the animal handlers at the slaughter slab, the animals are
not even given water as they are being trekked, this can also lead to
difficulties during dressing of the animals as high water content in the
animal’s body facilitates dressing and also lowers the bacterial load in the
animal’s body.
It has also been observed that after trekking, the animals become
exhausted and are not given enough time to rest before they are
slaughtered. This means that the animals are slaughtered while in
stressed condition and this also has a very significant effect on the quality
of meat. The animal which has been slaughtered while it is exhausted and
stressed, has a very low level of ATP which comes as a result of quick
setting of the carcase owing to low levels of glycogen and this depletion
in ATP hasten the onset of rigor mortis. In addition the animal has a high
muscle PH since little lactic acid will have been produced. This can
therefore lead to Dark Firm Dry (DFD) beef which is a poor quality of the
meat.
If a vehicle is used to transport the animals, the animals are exposed to
unstable conditions that lead to injuries, lameness, suffocation, transit
fever and bruising. Suffocation can be encountered due to poor
ventilation and overcrowding. Sweating, exhaustion and excretion of
urine and faeces lead the animals to loss of weight during transportation
2.2 Conditions of the rural slaughter slabs
Most of the rural slaughter slabs in Malawi have poor conditions such
that animals are not well handled before slaughter and carcasses are
exposed to very poor and unhygienic environments.
In the first place, most of the rural slaughter slabs visited was found to be

5. poorly located. They are placed just along the roads, markets, and
industrial sites (maize mill) e.g. Ndirande, Lunzu. This exposes animals to
noise which stresses them and leads to reduction of the shelf life of the
meat due to depletion of the glycogen content of their muscles.
Some slaughter slabs e.g. Nkhata bay, have no lairage at all as such
animals are slaughtered upon arrival without ante-mortem inspection,
hence diseases like rabies, anthrax, black quarter are not detected since
these diseases are more easily detected during ante-mortem inspection.
In addition, the animals are tired due to trekking (long distances) and
their glycogen reserves are depleted which leads to poor keeping quality
and short shelf life of the carcasses after being slaughtered. At the slabs
where the lairage are present, e.g. Mzimba, they are poor, that is the
floor of such lairage are very rough (concrete) and others have
uncemented floors (soils). In some slaughter slabs, the lairage are almost
falling such that animals can not be accommodated since the animals just
escape from the lairage, for instance, Lunzu slaughter slabs. These lairage,
therefore, do not serve the intended purpose.
Most slaughter slabs have rough surfaces with some pot holes therefore
no self draining thereby making cleaning difficult, this may attract some
flies inside the slaughter slab and breed on them because of the moisture.
Walls of such slaughter slabs contain cracks that may act as ingress of
insects and pests which are sources of cross contamination since they
land on everything (omnivorous). Many slaughter slabs are dark and
poorly ventilated because their windows are not spacious enough to
admit light and fresh air for proper inspection especially post mortem.
Some of the rural slaughter slabs have no running water e.g. Lunzu.
Water has to be drawn from the public taps or bore holes which is at
some distances hence queuing is a problem and water is supplied
inadequately to the slaughter slab. As such, floors are neglected since the
priority is to clean the offal and other associated carcasses leading to high
chances of cross contamination because the animals are slaughtered one

6. after the other.
Pets (dogs and cats) in the rural communities are scavengers (i.e. left to
seek their own foods); to their advantage most of the rural slaughter
slabs have no fencing. This leads to pets accessing the condemned meat
giving chance to further spread and persistence of the parasites especially
those which involve such pets in their life cycle e.g. Linguatula serrata and
Echinoccocus glanulosus. These pets like dogs may be rabid which when
have bitten the cattle may transmit rabies to the cattle. Because most of
the rural slaughter slabs are surrounded by poor people, they are high
chances of them accessing condemned meat for their protein; this is a
public health risk.
Condemnation pits and the refuse pits serve the same purpose but this
has to be separated from each other because they are two different
things i.e. in a condemnation pit, all things disposed in have to be
covered. In Nkhata Bay and Mzimba the pit are uncovered. Their location
is very important to inspection but most of the slaughter slabs have
placed these pits as close to the slaughter slabs as possible e.g. Mzimba,
Ndirande slaughter slab. The place has a pit which is less than 5 metres
away and very stinking with flies all over.
In addition, many of the slaughter slabs lack adequate space for hygienic
slaughter of the animals e.g. Mzimba Slaughter slab. Also there is no
dressing room for the Inspectors as such, Meat Inspectors put on the
protective clothing right from home to the slaughter slabs and pose a risk
of contamination to the meat. There are also high chances of the
multiplication of the micro organisms because meat is left at ambient
temperature due to lack of cold room storage in such rural slaughter
slabs.
Mzimba slaughter slab is surrounded by the bush of tall glass, it is used
for public relief (urinating and defecating). Therefore, the location is not
conducive for a slaughter slab since it is not protected from
environmental pollution.

7. 2.3 Ant- mortem inspection
In Malawi all food animals are required to be inspected before slaughter
which is provided under meat inspection regulation. Among the
recommendations made under the meat inspection regulations
specifically ante mortem inspection part V emphasizes that the animal
shall not be slaughtered for human consumption or for the production of
meat products unless it has been inspected by Meat Inspector and found
fit for human consumption. Animals are allowed to be slaughtered when
the Meat Inspector produces a written permission. Animals showing signs
of sickness should be segregated from other animals and being
slaughtered separately.
According to ante-mortem procedures, it has been observed that at some
slabs visited e.g. Ndirande, Mzimba and Lunzu; the Meat Inspectors are
knowledgeable and well experienced as observed during inspection of the
animals. Ante-mortem inspection is accordingly done since the inspector
followed the procedures as follows;
• Checking of the movement permit (the Veterinary Certificate) for
butcher men to move with an animal from one to another with a
purpose to control disease, and to prevent theft of animals. Each
animal had its own movement permit with the description of the
respective animal and on the owner of the animal, origin of the
animal, means and purpose of movement, species of the animal,
identification marks of the animal, clinical examination of the
animal conducted before authorized to move to a slaughter slab,
and name and title of the inspector. All the movements’ permits
were approved right.
• Clinical examination of the live animal is done at the slaughter slab

8. before slaughtering an animal, in the lairage as follows;
o Gate;- to note the movement (if limping) in order to detect
some signs of pain, which denote fractures, movement
failure as may be a sign of foot and mouth disease
o Behavior;-if aggressive, which is a sign of rabies
o Respiration;- if poor e.g. fast breathing, which may be a sign
of pneumonia
o Emaciation;- sliminess as sign of chronically diseased animal
o Poorness as may be a sign of starved or poorly nourished
animal
o Discharges; - fluids from body orifices and mouth for foot
and mouth disease. Bloody discharges as may be a sign of
Anthrax
o Abnormal colour;- yellow in eyes as a sign of jaundice, which
a sign of infections
o Viscousity of faecal matter for dirrhoea as a sign of intestinal
infections
o Odour; - for drug accumulations due to recent treatment so
that the animal can be delayed for slaughter.
o skin;- if wounds present in order to detect secondary
infection sites, and also putrefactive odour from these
wounds to suspect invasion of microbes
The main problem is that Ante-mortem inspection is done under
unhygienic conditions as stipulated in the Meat Inspection Regulations
Cap. 67:02 (in the un cleaned lairage) that can act a source of infections
like foot and mouth disease among the animals that have come healthier

9. for slaughter since the animals would need to lie down before slaughter.
In addition, the people involved, as observed during familiarizing, were
unhygienic. These can contaminate the carcasses during dressing and
evisceration.
At Chikwawa Boma Market Slaughter House, ante mortem inspection of
goats is occasionally done and most of the times animals are killed
without ante mortem inspection being conducted by Veterinary or
Environmental Health Officer (Meat Inspector) due to late coming of the
Meat Inspector. This problem of late coming of the Meat Inspectors has
been also observed at almost all the slaughter slabs visited.
Lack of ante mortem inspection poses the high risk of infectious diseases,
particularly anthrax, rabies, mastitis, foot and mouth and tetanus, which
are communicable to man and are difficult to detect during post-mortem
inspection. Absence of ante mortem inspection will also lead to absence
of vital information that would be used in detailed postmortem
inspection since some conditions require correlating with ante mortem
inspection findings. Movement permits for animals are also checked to
prevent unhonest butchermen from stealing some people’s animals.
2.4 Stunning
The slaughterers, as told during familiarization, are the Islamic people.
This makes the meat fit the general public (Halaal) as per religious beliefs
since Halaal is the accepted meat for the general public universally.
Humane slaughter is recommended and this ensures that the act of killing
is carried out in such a way as to cause minimal stress to the animal and

10. rendering it unconscious and remains so till death. Therefore, stunning is
the process of rendering the animal unconscious. The animal is stunned
by an axe at the point middle on the forehead lending the animal
unconscious before cutting on the neck for bleeding.
Several methods such as electrical stunning, using captive bolt pistol are
used in modern abattoirs although these may have some undesirable
effects on meat quality such as blood splashing and petechial
hemorrhages.
It was observed in rural slaughter slabs visited that in chikhwawa, Thyolo,
Nkhata Bay, Bvumbwe and Ndirande, stunning is not done apart from
Lunzu and Mzimba. They use a double-edged knife by a Sheikh or a
recommended Muslim elder to cut transversely the neck of the animal
severing the throat and blood vessels. In this method the animal is tied
hind legs together and front legs together then held to the ground by
some people as one cut the throat. Slaughtering of cattle was, however,
more involving and potentially dangerous to the operatives as some
animals were aggressive and convulsed vigorously as they struggle with
life.
Critically this method effectively immobilizes the animal but does not
induce insensibility and does not render the animal unconscious
immediately which may cause bruising and danger to the handlers.
Despite that stunning is appreciated for humane slaughter, where
stunning was done did not offer humane slaughter to the animals.
Animals waiting for slaughter are tied near the slaughter slab and view
the slaughtering process. There is no any barrier between the slaughter
point and the lairage. This results into the animals in a lairage stressed by
terror or fear in the animals as do strange noises, movements,
surroundings and smells after seeing the slaughtering other animals at
the slaughter point. This is engraved by cases in which the animal that is
struggling with life is left at the sight of others and a point in which an
animal that was already laid down and cutting almost started was

11. returned because the owner was not the first one to reach the slab on
that day.
Another problem noted was that Stunning is done only to cattle, not to
goats and sheep. Goats and sheep are directly killed by cutting the neck
of the animals for bleeding hence inhumane slaughter.
Also it was observed that animals are directly slaughtered without
resting, which results into killing an animal in stress thereby affecting the
quality of the meat from that animal. The stressed animal usually has
raised levels of adrenaline that depletes glycogen levels in the body
resulting into reduced lactic acid formation hence high chances of
microbial multiplication, lack of rigor mortis and no setting of the carcass.
All this reads to the short shelf life of the meat.
2.5 Bleeding of the carcase
Bleeding is the practice by which the blood is allowed to pass out from
the carcase. Blood is removed from the carcase mainly improve shelf life
of the meat. Meat which is not bled has shorter shelf life because of
multiplication of the bacteria that is found in the blood which at first they
were controlled by the immunity system of the animal when it was alive.
At almost all of the slaughter slabs visited, immediately after slaughter,
the animals were left lying down to allow bleeding. The mechanism which
was used to aid bleeding was a small slope which was on the slaughter
slab.
Bleeding was not carried out properly considering that the animals were
not hoisted; this was because the slaughter slab did not have any hoisting
facility and the animals were just laid on the slab. Hoisting is very
important to in slaughtering the animals to achieve complete bleeding.

12. Another problem which was noticed bleeding was the staining of the
blood on the rough surface of the slaughter. The slop where the carcasses
lie for bleeding was dirty surfaces. The surfaces had signs that they that
they had taken a long time without getting cleaned. This posed a risk of
carcass contamination.
Bleeding in the slaughter slabs can be improved constructing hoisting
facilities in the slaughter slabs. Although this is expensive, the funds can
be raised by charging the owners of the animals a development fund.
2.6 Dressing
Due to the fact that rural slaughter slabs have no hoisting facilities,
dressing is done on the floor or ground. After the animal has bled,
dressing process starts. The animal is held by four people each holding a
limb. The hide is slit from the neck down the brisket and belly, between
the legs to the anus. One man commences from one side of the carcase
and other side. The abdominal cavity is opened, the omentum and caul
fat are removed. After that, intestines and stomach with spleen attached
are removed. The bladder is detached, the penis and testicles or udder
are removed. The pluck (consisting of liver, lungs, pancreas, heart, and
trachea) with oesophagus is removed. Lastly, the head is removed from
the carcase.
In order to protect the carcase from getting dirty, a special kind of paper
called “aluminium paper” is laid on the ground on the either sides of the
carcase. When these papers are not available, banana leaves are used.
In most of the slaughter slabs visited, dressing is done as explained above
but the main problem is that it is done on the floors without any papers
or leaves. Those done on leaves can lead to contamination upon
accidental contact between the carcass and the ground. Also the leaves

13. may contain some dusts that may harbor microbes that can lead to
carcass contamination. In addition, Carcasses are not washed after
dressing due to lack of water at the facilities.
It is also noted that the dressing knives were not cleaned in between
dressing of the carcasses. People involved in dressing were also
unhygienic. All this poses the risk of contaminating the meat.
2.7 Post-mortem inspection
The Inspectors said that this inspection aims at detection of the diseases
by the looking at the character or extent of the muscle lesions (signs and
symptoms) e.g. how the TB lesions look like and whether the lesions are
localized or generalized, the general disposition (colour, bleeding, setting
and emaciation) of the carcasses and clotting and colour of the blood.
Considerations were that before starting post-mortem, it should be born
in mind about the ante-mortem inspection data to compare with the
post-mortem data, so as to consider the consumer who will consume the
meat as well as to consider loss of valuable meat during condemnation of
the meat e.g. liver trimmed due to liver flukes.
The Inspectors highlighted three areas of inspection namely; - the Head,
the carcasses and the visceral (Offal and pluck) to be inspected in
succession respectively.
2.7.1 Head Inspection;
The surfaces viewed for bruises and swellings. Sides of the head were
palpated for lumpy jaw and the tongue for wooden tongue as well as
abscesses. This was followed by the incision of the lymph nodes i.e. the
parotid lymph nodes, retropharyngeal and submaxillary lymph nodes, in
order to check for the presence of actinobacillosis and tuberculosis
lesions. Later on the massetter muscles and tongue were incised for the

14. presence of Cysticercus bovis.
2.7.2 Visceral Inspection;
a. Pluck (lungs, liver and heart)
Lungs; - surfaces were viewed for the signs of pneumonia,
emphysema, pleurisy, melanosis and anthracosis. The lungs were
also palpated for the abscesses and tumours. In the lungs, the
bronchial and mediasternal lymph nodes were incised for TB
lesions. Deep incision of the lungs was done for the presence of
lungworms, liverflukes, hydatid cyst and pneumonia. Liver; -
surfaces were view for abnormal colour (melanin). They were also
palpated for cirrhosis, abscesses, and tumours. The inspector also
incised the hepatic lymph nodes for TB lesions. A deep incision of
the liver was made for liverflukes and hydatid cysts. Heart; -
surfaces viewed for pericarditis. They were also palpated for
abscesses, and tumours. The heart was incised for Cysticercus bovis
b. Offal (Stomach, intestines and Spleen)
Stomach was viewed for jaundice, tumours, ingested objects and
conical flukes, palpated for foreign objects and traumatic reticulitis.
Intestines were viewed for pimply guts, Linguatula serrata, and
jaundice, palpated for tumours and abscesses, and the mesenteric
lymph nodes was incised for TB lesions. Spleen was viewed for
infarcts, its size enlarged for anthrax and colour for haemolysis and
haematoma. Were also palpated for abscesses and tumours, and
incised for TB lesions.
2.7.3 Carcass Inspection;
The Carcasses were viewed their surfaces for incomplete bleeding,
bruises and swelling or tumours, and also dirty on the carcasses were
checked. Thee lymph nodes (prescapular, superficial inguinal, external
and internal iliac, and precrural) were incised and examined for TB

15. lesions. The fresh (biceps muscles) of the carcasses were incised for the
presence of Cystercus bovis. Kidneys viewed and palpated for tumours
and abscesses, incised for gall stones and the renal lymph nodes for TB
lesions. The Diaphragm was also incised for Cysticercus bovis and TB
lesions.
From the look of things, as explained above, the inspection is well done,
however, there lies a problem on punctuality of the Meat Inspector i.e.
his late arrival led to some people insisting selling the meat without
inspection on it. In addition, the unruly behavior of the butcher men led
to incomplete inspection of the meat before selling…. Meat Inspectors
were not in the Inspection kit (boots, overall, head gear). In addition, the
Meat Inspector would borrow the equipment from the butcher men. The
Knife was being used to incising both the carcasses and the lymph nodes
at the same time (without cleaning/sterilizing the knife in between),
which can result into cross-contamination.
3 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings the following recommendations are made;
• Slaughter slabs have to be relocated to places which are away from
the markets, roads, industrial, residential areas (outskirts of town)
because most animals may lead to being stressed and hence reduce
the keeping quality.
• There is need to provide lairage in most rural slaughter slabs to
help animals rest at least 12 hours using available material like rags
from trees with some adequate spaces because animals after being
trekked a long distances have to be kept for some time to keep the
keeping quality and replenish glycogen reserves.
• It should be the interest of local government and private sectors to
ensure that the slaughter slabs are maintained and conform to the

16. standards of the good abattoir which should be smooth enough to
allow self drainage and easily cleaned. They should have adequate
windows to allow enough natural lighting for proper inspection
especially post mortem.
• A slaughter slab needs to have adequate water for proper cleaning
at least a tap which should provide water for cleaning the offal,
washing hands to avoid cross contamination especially after one is
done with one part and is shifting to the other.
• There is need for the provision of fences for security and
prevention of pets from accessing the condemned parts or organs,
even using locally available materials to fence the slaughter slabs.
• There is need for construction of the bigger slaughter slabs for
adequate space for different facilities that are required at the slabs.
• There is need for protection of the existing slaughter slab from
environmental pollution. This can be achieved by provision of IEC /
health education to the butcher men and the general public on the
importance of Environmental and Personal hygiene in handling of
the food animals as well as meat and its products.
CONCLUSION
Conducting Meat inspection is important since apart from detecting
infections and protection of animals from being infected through
transmission from other animals, you can also trace other sources of
infections and improve hygiene of the environment by assessing the
environmental sanitation and personal hygiene of the people involved in
meat handling hence tangible recommendations can be made for the
Authorities to make good decisions.

17. Despite that Meat inspection is done in the Country (Malawi), meat
inspection is not sufficiently conducted. Most of the District Assemblies
and other Market Slaughter slabs are not fit for animal slaughtering
evidenced by lack of water, drainage system and hoisting facilities. The
hygienic practices at the sites are below the standards as stipulated in
Meat Inspection Regulations Cap. 67:02. Ante-mortem inspection is rarely
conducted by the Meat Inspectors. Although postmortem inspection
takes place, some essential parts (intestines and head) are not inspected
that pose the high risk of passing the infected carcase and organs for
human consumption. Hence call for the decision makers should take
action on how to improve the situation on the ground for the betterment
of the health of the general public as well as the country’s economy
through meat and its products.

18. REFERENCES
Laws of Malawi (1977), Meat and Meat Products (Cap.67:02),
Meat Inspection Regulations.
J.F. Gracey (1981), Thornton’s Meat Hygiene, 7th Edition,
London, Bailliere Trindall.
R.A. Martin (1973), Practical Food Inspection, 8th Edition,
Great Britain.
J.F. Gracey, David S Collins, Robert Huey (2000), Meat
Hygiene, 10th
Edition, London, Bailliere Trindall. ISBN
0-7020-2258-6
Lecture notes (year 2009/10) on meat hygiene and
inspection theory, by Zumani Banda.