Evaluation of meat safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among slaughter house workers of Amathole District in eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Good slaughter hygiene practices are mandatory to minimize chances of microbiological contamination during meat processing. Thus, knowledge and training in meat safety are important to improve the attitudes of workers who are reported to frequently engage in poor handling practices. The objective of the study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes towards meat safety and personal hygiene of slaughter personnel from low throughput (LTA’s) and high throughput abattoirs (HTA’s). Data were collected using structured questionnaires with questions on some important meat safety cues. About 40% of abattoir employees attained secondary education and this was significantly greater than those with no education (25%), primary (26.7%) and tertiary (8.3%) (P