A recent study is the first (to the best of the researchers’ knowledge) to track foodborne pathogens from specific pigs and their associated pork products at all points along the pork supply chain, including the farm, the slaughterhouse, the meat processing plant, and retail stores. The findings provide new insight to the transmission of pathogens from the pork production environment to pork products, as well as the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of isolated pathogens.
Samples were collected from pork and the production environment at a midsized swine farm (holding 5,000 pigs) in South Korea, as well as from the subsequent slaughterhouse, meat processing plant, and retail stores to which the pork products were distributed. Pig samples transferred from different locations along the supply chain were strictly tracked using the Korean Animal Product Tracking System.