Influence of the Slaughter Method on the Hygienic Quality of Beef Cattle Meat and AnimalWelfare Biomarkers

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the slaughter method on the microbiology of the meat and the animal welfare physiological indicators for beef cattle. Three slaughter procedures were compared, as follows: regular slaughter (with a penetrative captive bolt), halal slaughter, and halal slaughter with a non-penetrative captive bolt (reversible stunning accepted by some halal religious authorities). We conclude that the halal slaughter with stunning showed the best results for microbial counts (enterobacteria and coliforms) and for the considered biomarkers of animal welfare, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose, and creatine kinase; however, this slaughter type gave the highest amount of cortisol.