Effects of feed withdrawal prior to slaughter and nutrition on stomach weight, and carcass and meat quality in pigs

Withdrawing feed from pigs for a period of time before harvest (fasting) can be a valuable approach to reduce deaths during transport, and improve pork quality and safety. However, factors such as time of last feed, feeding regime, and feed type may limit the efficiency of this procedure, and produce variation in the response to fasting for aspects such as carcass yield, stomach weight and contents, and microbial contamination of the carcass at slaughter. Furthermore, the presence of liquid contents in the gut due to the hunger-related higher drinking rate suggest that more research is needed to resolve the potential conflict between animal welfare and food safety objectives of this pre-slaughter procedure. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.