Assessment of the hygienic condition of chicken shops in Alexandria and its impact on the bacteriological quality of sold carcasses

Assessment of the hygienic condition of 15 chicken shops in Alexandria revealed that carcass handling had the highest mean score percentages in all zones ranging from 69.7% to 83.3% but unfortunately personal hygiene was given the lowest score percentages ranging from 34.5% to 46.9%. Moreover, there were no significant differences among different zones concerning the mean score percentages of different sanitation checklist parameters. Bacteriological analysis of 198 samples; 135 chicken carcass's washes, 45 scalding water samples and 18 defeathering machine washes revealed that washes collected after defeathering had the worst bacteriological profile regarding the counts of aerobic mesophiles [3.7x10[7] CFU/100 ml] and coliforms [8.0x10[4] MPN/100 ml]. Carcass washes collected after evisceration and wash4rg from most zones were contaminated with lower bacterial loads than either after scalding or defeathering, but they showed higher contamination with coagulase positive staphylococci Within the same zone, the defeathering machine washes were usually of worse bacteriological quality than scalding water

Hygienic condition of home made foods sold in Alexandria markets

A total of 100 homemade food samples shown for sale in some supermarkets in Alexandria was examined to investigate their hygienic conditions. The food samples included vegetable products [20 samples] and bakery products [32 samples]. All food samples were subjected to external examination, chemical examination and microbiological analysis. The results showed that all vegetable and bakery products had production dates on the labels. The expiry dates were mentioned in 93.0% of the total samples. Also, 91.0% of the total samples were packaged in polyethylene. In addition, 72.0% of the total samples had a storage temperature of < -16 to < -12C, whereas 28.0% were stored at >/ -11C. There was a significant difference in pH and moisture content of each of vegetable, meat and bakery products. The highest mean pH was 5.58 +/- 0.43 for meat products, while vegetable products had the lowest pH [4.96 +/- 0.61]. Moisture content was 57.96% +/- 6.67 in vegetable products and was lower in meat products [54.61% +/- 10.90]. There was a significant difference in the aerobic plate count and in the presence of coagulase and DNAse positive staphylococci of the meat product samples. While, a significant difference was observed in coliform and fecal coliform presence of bakery product samples

Hygienic quality of Frozen meat

International meat trade has been recognised as a vehicle of transmission of diseases. This study was conducted to evaluate the hygienic quality of frozen meat imported to Qatar. The data revealed that Indian meat had a higher bacterial count [7.4x10[5] compared to English meat 5.4x10[3]. No Salmonella could be recovered from any source of meat other than Indian meat, where Salmonella was isolated from 12 consignments of Indian meat [16.6%]

Comparative study of drinking water quality between surface and under ground water used in Doha-Qatar

Chemical and bacteriological analysis has a wide range of uses in the investigation of water supplies and water quality. This study was conducted to assess the quality of drinking water in Doha-Qatar. The results revealed that the chemical constituents of tap and under ground drinking water were within the recommended limits except for the fluoride level in the under ground water where it ranged from 1.7-2.6 mg/L in 50% of the examined samples. The concentrations of chemical constituents of the under ground water were much higher than that of tap water. All the examined samples were found free from coliforms and faecal coliforms

effect of home Freezing and thawing practices on the nutritional value of poultry

This study investigated the effect of home freezing and thawing practices on the organoleptic and nutritional constituents of chicken meat. The data revealed that as the storage time increased, there were gradual decrease in the organoleptic characters until the 20th week where the odour started to be unacceptable and there were a decrease in the protein, ash and moisture content. The data showed, also, that carcasses thawed at room temperature lost more solids in the drip than those thawed in the refrigerator and

Evaluation of the hygienic conditions of street vended food in Alexandria

Preparation and sale of street foods is an old and almost universal activity in developing countries. This activity has reached new dimensions as a result of rapid urbanization. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the safety of street foods in Alexandria through a sanitation check-list. Results revealed that the highest score of sanitation was found for location [51.14 +/- 24.23], equipment and utensils [38.67 +/- 12.08], then carts or stands [36.33 +/- 26.24], the least score was found for food [25.71 +/- 18.7]. The scores of the 4 parameters [location, food handler, equipment and utensils, and carts or stands] were significantly higher than the food score [F = 8.73, P <0.05]. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the carts or stand score was the only significant factor affecting food score. The most critical problems found in the studied carts were the lack of adequate supply of potable water for cleaning and washing [11.76 +/- 31.82] as well as the available waste disposal [5.88 +/- 23.21]

Anoverall picture of food colours used in different foods

The world market for food colors is expanding at about 10% annually. Some coloring matters used in food can be considered as health hazards, especially if administered in large doses. Therefore, legal control over the use of food colors is essential. This is the best accomplished through the use of a permitted list which effectively prevents the addition of any new substances to foods until an adequate basis for judgment of their freedom from health hazard had been established, in addition to improved laboratory analysis of the quantity of color used in food. The results of the present study revealed that 130 samples of colored foods out of 256 samples examined [50.78%] contained no artificial colors and were considered natural. In the mean time, all the detected artificial water soluble colors were according to the permissible list. Of the food classes analyzed, no artificial colors were detected in canned juices, jams, tomato paste, pickling and yogurt. However, 10 samples of ice cream out of 28 examined contained artificial colors, although it is prohibited to add artificial color to this class of food. In case of confectionary, 54 out of 78 samples examined contained permissible artificial colors, and tartrazine was the most prevalent color detected in this class of food, which is mostly consumed by children

Residues of the pesticide selecron on apples and pears grown in Egypt

The present study was conducted to follow up residues of selecron on apples and pears after pesticides application on the plant, and to study the effect of washing on the reduction of pesticide residues. The initial deposits of selecron in apples were relatively higher than those in pears and persisted for more than 14 days in both of them, but was not detected after 21 days. The percent removal of the pesticide residues by washing was found to depend on the initial level of pesticide, being greater the higher the pesticide level, since residues remaining on crops after weathering are more difficult to remove by washing than those recently applied

Effect of storage on the quality of mango juice

This study investigated the changes that take place in the chemical composition and microbiological quality of canned mango juice during different storage conditions. The most important chemical result during storage of the cans for 6 months at 5 c or room temperature is the stability of vitamin C. however, the storage of the opened cans for 24 hours at 5 C resulted in a remarkable decrease in the moisture content, acidity, and vitamin C content. Also the total count decreased from 1.8x10[2]/m1 to zero. In the meantime the each content increased from 0.69% to 1.34%

Microbial quality of minced meat using the limulus lysate endotoxin assay

Fifty random samples of raw minced meat were collected from market in Alexandria City for determination of their microbial quality using the limulus amoebocyte lysate [LAL] test. The data revealed that only 6 samples representing 12% were positive for LAL at a titter of 10 -3 and had a high LPS content [120 ng/gm], high Gram-negative bacteria for both calculated and counted on VRBA [6 x 10 5 and 2.5 x 10 6 cells/gm respectively] and had a spoilage level of T.B.C. [14 x10 8 cells/gm]. LAL proved to be a simple and rapid screening test for microbial quality of meat products

effect of processing operation and conditions on the quality of canned guava juice

This study investigated the changes that take place in the chemical composition and microbiological quality of Guava fruit as a result of the processing procedures involved in the manufacturing of canned Guava juice. The most apparent chemical change was in the level of vitamin C which suffered a significant loss throughout processing operations. The procedures of processing also added more contaminants to the original bacterial load of the Guava fruit. However, the final pasteurization process caused 99.01% inhibition to the bacterial count and complete destruction to coliforms. Storage of the canned Guava juice for 6 months at room temperature and 5°C caused a decrease in both vitamin C and sugar contents. The decrease was more pronounced in samples kept at room temperature than at 5°C. The bacterial count increased from 8.3 x 10[2]/ml to 1.3 x 10[4] and 6 x 10[4] cells/ml at 5°C and room temperature respectively

Evaluation of food hygiene knowledge among postgraduate students at High Institute of Public Health

This study was carried out among 55 postgraduate students at the high institute of public health, representing different professions, levels of perception and experience. These students attended a food hygiene course, over a period of three months. The course was composed of lectures which covered different subjects related to food hygiene. To evaluate the food hygiene knowledge among these students and to assess the effectiveness of the course on the improvement of their knowledge a specially designed test questionnaire was prepared and used before [pre-test] and after [post-test] the course. These questions [30] were subdivided into five groups so that each group covers one of the five subareas of food hygiene, namely; sources of food contamination, food poisoning, food spoilage, food handling and preparation, and elementary microbiology. The effect of the course was examined through testing the differences in the pre and post test average scores for each of the five subareas as well as the overall course [total]. Moreover, stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect independant variables [age, sex, work; marital status; study degree] on the students achievement. The results indicated that the course resulted in a significant improvement in the overall food hygiene knowledge of the students as well as for all of its the five subareas. The improvement ranged between 27.4% [food handling and preparation area] and 84.1% [elementary microbiology area]. Woek of the student was the most important independent variable affecting significantly the student's achievement with better achievement among medicals than nonmedicals