101 INTRODUCTION There is a potential risk of contamination with pathogen bacteria during the food processing, packaging, storage, and transportation but it is possible to minimize the contamination if sanitary measures, hygiene practices, proper cooling, careful handling and proper storage of the products is enforced. However, there are still cases of outbreaks UDC: 579.64:637.5(497.7) Original Scientific Article Mac Vet Rev 2013; 36 (2): 101–105 ABSTRACT Available online at www.macvetrev.mk EVALUATION OF THE HYGIENE STATUS IN SEVERAL MEAT AND DAIRY PROCESSING ESTABLISHMENTS IN R.MACEDONIA Ratkova Marija, Prodanov Mirko, Angelovski Ljupco, Jankuloski Dean, Sekulovski Pavle, Mojsova Sandra Food institute, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”, Skopje, Macedonia Received 14 June 2013; Received in revised form 18 July 2013; Accepted 26 August 2013 The hygiene practice is one of the most important aspects in the production of safe food. The effectiveness of the cleaning and disinfection programs can be evaluated by continuous examination of the microbiological counts of the surfaces and hands of the workers by taking swabs. In a period of 6 months, 717 swabs were examined, 600 of them from working surfaces, and 117 from employees hands, by using the standard swabbing technique. From the meat production premises 453 swabs were sampled from surfaces and 94 swab samples from workers hands. At the dairy establishments, 147 swabs were taken from the surfaces and 23 swabs from employees hands. The samples were tested for total bacteria viable count according to ISO 4833:2003 and the enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae according to ISO 21528-2:2004, and after that the results were evaluated in accordance with Directive 471/2001/EEC. Obtained results from the meat processing plants were the following: 15.6% were unacceptable for total viable count (TVC) and 7.5% were unacceptable for enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae from the swabs taken from surfaces, and 10.6% and 2.1% respectively from the swabs taken from their workers. The results in the milk processing premises were: 9.5% unacceptable for TVC and 2% unacceptable for enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae from the swabs from their surfaces, and 17.4% and 8.7% respectively from the swabs taken from their workers. The results are indicating that although there is a high level of appropriate hygiene practice in all of the food production premises, there is still a percent of unacceptable results, which suggests a lack of hygiene and can emphasis the need for further improvement of the cleaning and disinfecting techniques especially for the surfaces in the meat processing premises and an improvement in the personal hygiene in the dairy industry. Keywords : hygiene practice, swabs, TVC, Enterobacteriaceae Corresponding author: Ratkova Marija , MSc E-mail address: ratkova.marija@fvm.ukim.edu.mk Present address: Food institute, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine-Skopje, “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” University, Lazar Pop- Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, R. Macedonia tel: +389 2 3240 736; fax: +389 2 3114 619 Copyright: © 2013 Ratkova M. This is an open-access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. from food-borne bacteria all over the world, which proves that there is still a lack of hygiene and subsequently contamination in the whole food chain (1). In the food processing establishments, there are many conditions that would provide a good environment for the attachment of bacteria and possible biofilm formation. This encompasses the flowing water, surfaces at which raw food is handled and to which bacteria readily attaches, ample nutrients, raw materials, or an environment which is bringing the bacteria in the plant and supports their growth (2, 3). Attachment of a variety of organisms to food processing surfaces has been reported by a number of workers (5, 7, 8) with associated changes in the