Assessment of hygienic and nutritive quality of retailed minced meat in Egypt

Abstract

The study was conducted on ninety fresh, chilled and frozen minced meat to determine their bacterial and nutritional quality and to be screened for meat-borne pathogens in the Menofiya governorate. Statistically, the findings of Aerobic mesophilic, coliform, Staphylococci, and Staphylococcus aureus counts were not significantly different (P >0.05) between the three meat types. Compared to the Egyptian organization standards (EOS), 82.2 % of minced meat had unacceptable Aerobic mesophilic counts, while 79% showed higher levels of S. aureus. In addition, the highest loads of Psychrotrophic counts (5.62 log cfu / g), Coliform counts (3.98 log cfu/g) and Mold and Yeast counts (4.99 log cfu /g) were found, correspondingly, in frozen, chilled and fresh minced meat. The overall incidence of Salmonella sp. out of the three meat types, was 27.8 %. Salmonellae was also isolated from fresh (33.3%), chilled (26.7%) and frozen (23.3%) minced meat. Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium were the major isolated strains. Regarding protein content, 73.3%, 80% and 66.7% of fresh, chilled and frozen minced meat were approved comparable to EOS, while all samples were accepted for fat content. In conclusion, the results of the current study indicate that the three minced meat types sold in the Menofiya governorate were not adequately hygienic. The Egyptian food hygiene authorities shall therefore consider the implementation of a "pathogen-specific control system", beginning with primary production units, and strictly track compliance with hygiene measures during the preparation, processing and exhibiting of raw meat to obtain safe food.

Improving the Shelf Life and Quality of Minced Beef by Cassia Glauca Leaf Extracts during Cold Storage

“…The reduction of peroxide values might be attributed to the phenols and flavonoids of CGE that have antioxidant activity. This agrees with several reports that showed that Cassia glauca has to be considered an effective antioxidant and a rich source of phenols and flavonoids, which possess antioxidant activity [16,42]. Therefore, the incorporation of CGE in minced beef inhibits lipid oxidation.…”

“…Consequently, it extends the shelf life and improves the quality of the minced beef. According to the permissible limits recorded by EOS [42], which stated that TABC should not exceed (6 log10 CFU/g), the control group exceeded the acceptable level by day 6 of storage compared to the minced meat samples treated with 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%, which became unacceptable after 9, 12, and 15 days of storage at 3 ± 1 • C, respectively. Our results showed that CGE positively impacted the total aerobic plate count by increasing the CGE in minced meat from 0.25% to 0.5% and 1% and increasing the shelf life of minced meat from 6 to 9, 12, and 15 days, respectively.…”