article · Journal of Food Quality
Fresh meat and contact surface swab samples from butcher shops in Debre Berhan were analysed to evaluate microbiological quality. Samples gathered in the afternoon showed higher microbial loads than morning samples across multiple organism groups, including total aerobic mesophiles, Staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms, aerobic spore formers, and yeasts and moulds. Contact surface swabs similarly demonstrated notable bacterial and fungal presence. Identification of the aerobic mesophilic flora revealed that Enterobacteriaceae comprised 36 percent, Staphylococci species 24 percent, and Bacillus species 19 percent of isolates. Testing for specific food-borne organisms identified Staphylococcus aureus in 37.5 percent of samples, Escherichia coli in 32.5 percent, and Salmonella in 7.5 percent. Significant levels of spoilage microorganisms were detected across all samples, underscoring the necessity for enhanced sanitary measures across handling and retail stages.
Food-borne infections pose serious health threats, especially in regions where consuming raw beef is a widespread practice. Demonstrating elevated bacterial counts and the presence of harmful pathogens like Salmonella and Escherichia coli in retail environments highlights critical hygiene vulnerabilities. These findings provide vital evidence for food safety authorities and vendors to implement stringent handling and sanitation standards to protect public health.
The abstract does not indicate a direct technology or commercial application pathway, as it reports baseline microbiological survey data. The findings could potentially inform the development of retail hygiene standards, inspection programmes, or cleaning protocols for municipal health regulators and butcher operations. Any technical intervention or commercial solution remains at an early concept stage, as none are evaluated in the study.
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Food-borne pathogens are the primary source of infection in developing countries. The widespread practice of raw beef consumption was a potential cause of food-borne diseases in Ethiopia. Hence, this study was initiated to assess the microbiological quality of fresh meat samples from butcher shops in Debre Berhan. Fresh meat samples and swab samples from contact surfaces were collected from butcher shops for microbial analysis, following standard methods. The study revealed that the mean microbial counts of morning samples for total aerobic mesophilic, Staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae, total coliform, fecal coliform, aerobic spore formers, and yeasts and molds of the butcher shops were 5.31, 4.24, 4.47, 4.79, 4.74, 3.77, and 5.0 log cfu/g, respectively. The mean microbial counts from the afternoon sample for total aerobic mesophilic, Staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae, total coliform, fecal coliform, aerobic spore formers, and yeasts and molds of the butcher shops were 5.47, 4.78, 4.84, 4.88, 4.94, 5.15, and 5.07 log cfu/g, respectively. A higher microbial load was found from the meat sample collected in the afternoon. The mean microbial counts of total aerobic mesophilic, Staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae, total coliform, fecal coliform, aerobic spore formers, and yeasts and molds from swabs of the contact surface were 4.17, 3.98, 4.08, 3.96, 3.86, 3.80, and 3.92 log cfu/cm2, respectively. Further characterization of the aerobic mesophilic flora indicated a dominance by Enterobacteriaceae (36%) followed by Staphylococci spp. (24%) and Bacillus spp. (19%). The prevalence of S. aureus, E. coli, and Salmonella in meat and swab samples was 37.5%, 32.5%, and 7.5%, respectively. In this study, it was observed that all samples collected from butcher shops detected a significant count of spoilage microbes. Hence, adequate sanitary measures should be taken from production to consumption stages.
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DOI: 10.1155/2021/7520882
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