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INSECTS CONTROL IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CURED HAM.

     Within the manufacture in food industry the flying insects control is very important, because of the diseases that they trasmit and the contamination of ready-made meals. From all these we refer to the manufacture of cured ham.

Flying insects control in the ham factories is recommended by the public health.
 

     The cured ham, traditionally ripened in mountainous areas (hence the name of the cured ham - serrano) is obtained from the pig's back legs, dried and partially dehydrated, and then it is subjected to a ripening process that varies depending on the manufacturer and the place. During the transformación of the meat, we must be extremely careful both when  handling and manufacturing the product, as far as hygiene is concerned, as there is always a biological risk, due to parasites and insects presence.

    During the ripening stage the mould and fungicide flora proliferate on the ham surface, due to the increased moisture, protein and fat it gets with tanning. Although it is beneficial for the product, because it helps the hams ripening, it is also an attractive for flies, bluebottles and other parasites such as ham mite - some tiny bugs that can be noticed in the cut when the ham is consumed. This mite produces no significant damage to the people (occasionally and in extreme cases it produces allergic dermatitis).

Flies use meat to lay their eggs.

    Several genders of the bluebottle flies species can be found around the ham drying place. Although they lay their eggs in animal dung  and decomposing fodder, it is more likely to be found on rotting corpses. Flesh bluebottle is robust, with a metallic shine on the body and in various colors: vivid green, blue, black bronze and coppery.
 

Ham fats serve as food for the bluebottle larvae during their metamorphosis.

    Flies use the ham meat when they are adults to lay their eggs, as this environment is very suitable for the cycle of flies. A few days later they become larvae because they find nearby the food they need to become adults; the larvae feed on decomposed flesh. It is very easy to discover the damaged areas in a ham, damages produced by flies: it looks like a soft, watery and rotten-looking hollow. This damage spoils the pieces or the parts of the ham where larvae settled, and the health risks can be very important.
 

If you want to read our other articles about the flies, mosquitoes and wasps exterminators as well as some curiosities about these flying insects,

 click below.