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Bream from the spring catchery was subjected to sensory, microbiological and chemical analysis after various time of cold storage in ice. Results of analyses proved bream's quality to decrease at a slow rate during the first week of storage and at a high rate in the second one. Yet quality changes noted for fish tissue were about 3 times slower than for the whole fish. On the basis of the obtained results the shelf life of spring bream under cold storage in ice was 10 ±1 days, at a maxi mum.

The aim of this work was to assess to what extend freshwater fishes are carriers of Campylobacter spp. and what species dominate in this environment. Analysis of 106 alimentary canals representing 13 freshwater fish species originated from 5 different water bodies confirmed Campylobacter spp. presence in 8.5% of the samples tested. Numbers of campylobacters did not exceeded 10 CFU/g. The dominating species being C. coli.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Szczecin Lagoon waters was carried out between April and December 1996. Changes in yeasts numbers of this particular estuary were found to be typical for the marinę and estuary waters with maximum concentration of yeast-like fungi in the summer season. Qualitative analysis of the isolated strains, proved <i>Rhodotorula glutinis</i> to be the most frequently isolated species at the three sampling sites, with <i>Candida coliculosa</i> dominating at the forth one.

Background. In times when there is a growing interest in ready-to-eat food (RTEF), the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria, including the toxigenic psychrotolerant bacilli from the B. cereus group, on this type of carrier may pose a real threat to the health of consumers. A significant part of RTEF is represented by vegetable products and food products made with them. The increased production of convenience foods has resulted in their international turnover growing. When coupled with a rising percentage of persons from risk groups (YOPI), including the elderly or immunocompromised, this may mean increased health risks posed by the so-called "novel pathogens", like the toxigenic psychrotolerant B. cereus sensu lato. Materials and methods. Food samples were analyzed for the presence and count of putative B. cereus according to the Polish Standard PN-EN ISO 7932:2005. All genetic analyses were conducted using a qualitative real-time PCR. Results. The presence of B. cereus sensu lato was confirmed in 130 out of the 192 samples of convenience foods, at contamination levels ranging from 1.65 to 3.32 log CFU/g. Among the strains confirmed to belong to the B. cereus group, 23 were identified as emetic B. cereus. The analysis of each strain's ability to grow at temp. 4-10°C demonstrated that 4.9% and 12.7% of the isolates were able to grow at 4°C and 6°C, respectively. In turn, 15.2% were able to grow at 8°C, and 36.3% at 10°C. None of the psychrotrophic strains possessed genes typical of B. weihenstephanensis. The group of psychrotrophic B. cereus included potentially toxigenic strains being carriers of genes that determine the synthesis of the following toxins: NHE, HBL, CytK, and cereulide. Some of them were potent enough to produce more than one toxin. Conclusions. The analyses conducted in this study demonstrate that the psychrotolerant strains of B. cereus (including the toxigenic ones) are frequent microbiological contaminants of RTEF products offered in retail. The presence of emetic strains from the B. cereus group, which are able to grow in a wide range of temperatures and produce enterotoxins and enzymes with the characteristics of toxins, in ready-to-eat foods may pose a real threat to consumer health.