Microbial quality of some meat products

ABSTRACT

A total of 100 r and om samples of basterma, luncheon, minced meat and raw sausage [25 samples of each] were collected from different supermarkets and butcher's shops in Cairo and Giza governorates and examined bacteriologically. The mean values of total mesophilic count/g of the aforementioned samples were 4.7 x 10 6, while the mean values of Enterobacteriaceae/g were 5.9 x 10 3, 7 x 10 4, 4.3 x 10 5 and 3 x 10 4, respectively. On the other h and, the mean values of coliforms/g were 1.4 x 10 3, 1.4 x 10 3, 4.9 x 10 3 and 4.7 x 10 3, respectively, and the mean values of staphylococci/g were 3.7 x 10 5, 2.3 x 10 4, 1.7 x 10 4 and 3.6 x 10 4, respectively. The study showed that E. coli was isolated at a high percentages [27%, 52%, 33% and 45%, respectively] from the same examined samples, followed by Enterobacter aerogenes at percentages of 18%, 14%, 24% and 8%, respectively, while salmonella could not be isolated from any examined samples. Coagulase positive Staph. aureus could be isolated from 40% of samples of basterma, 18% of samples of luncheon, 15% of samples of minced meat and 43% of samples of sausage. The public health importance, economic significance of existing microorganisms as well as the suggested measures for improving quality of the products have been discussed