Assessment of safety of frozen foods

ABSTRACT

This cross-section study was conducted to assess the microbiological quality of 90 frozen food samples [50 samples of raw frozen vegetables including molokeya, okra green peas, peas + carrot and artichoke], 20 of frozen poultry products and 20 of frozen meat products as well as to assess the level of women practice during handling. The results showed that the mean aerobic mesophilic plate count of the frozen vegetables was 3.4 x 105 +or- 7.3 x 105 cfu/g. The mean mold and yeast count was 3.9 x 103 +/- 1.1 x 104 cfu/g. The mean coliform count was 3.9 x 10 +/- 6.6 x 10 m.o./g. In case of meat product, the mean aerobic count was 2.3 x 105 +/- 3.2 x 105, that of mold and yeast was 2.5 x 105 +/- 8.8 x 105 cfu/g and that of coliform was 3.2 x 102 +/- 3.8 x 102 m.o./g. On, the other hand, poultry products had a mean aerobic count of 6.8 x 105 +/- 1.6 x 106, a mean mold and yeast count of 3.5 x 105 +/- 7.4 x 105 cfu/g and a mean coliform count of 6.4 x 102 +/- 5.2 x 102 m.o./g. Fecal coliforms were detected only in 60.0% of meat product samples and in 45.0% of poultry product samples. On the other hand, Staph. aureus was detected only in 10.0% of poultry product samples. The difference between the five types of vegetables was statistically significant for total plate and mold and yeasts counts. Among the 113 interviewed women, 80 used frozen food products, 26 of them had scores <50%, those were classified as being bad as they were handling frozen food improperly which would contribute to the outbreaks of food borne diseases. Less than 4% of the users used satisfactory practice during handling frozen foods. Illiteracy affected significantly the level of practice