Beef consumption and consumers knowledge on meat quality in Maroua in the Far North of Cameroon

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine beef consumption and evaluate the knowledge of consumers on meat quality in Maroua city in the Far North Region of Cameroon. To achieve this, 202 households selected using a gripped map and random selection method were surveyed. The cookers or cooks were surveyed and observed in each household. During this survey, the pieces of beef, as cuts before cooking, were weighted and the quantity of beef consumed per person was calculated. The influence of socio economic and demographic factors related to consumer (religion, age, monthly income, number of person in the household and district) on beef consumption was also evaluated. Overall, 96% of the surveyed households consumed meat and among them, 98% eat beef. Beef is consumed the most (72%), followed by goat (21%), sheep (5%), chicken (1%) and pork (1%). In majority of the beef-eating households (39%), cattle meat was eaten two or three times per week. In addition, a person consumed 133.25 ± 33.49 g of beef per day and this consumption rate was affected by the age, monthly income and the district position. During the evaluation of consumer's knowledge on meat quality, color and tenderness were found to be the most important factors for consumers. These findings suggest that meat consumption in the livestock production area in Cameroon is very important as it is higher than that observed in the whole Cameroon and in Africa. Thus Cameroonian government should focus on improving meat consumption in consumption zones.

Human Health Risks Related to Penicillin G and Oxytetracycline Residues Intake Through Beef Consumption and Consumer Knowledge About Drug Residues in Maroua, Far North of Cameroon

“…Indeed, meat is consumed in 96% of households, and 98% of them consume beef. The daily consumption of beef per capita in this area is estimated at 133 g, which is 10 times higher than the worldwide average meat consumption (6,7).…”

“…The food consumption data used in this study were based on the existing and representative data of our previous study (6). During that study, 202 households selected using a gripped map and random selection method as described by Vougat Ngom et al (25) were surveyed.…”

“…Studies have shown that there is a relationship between the population's dietary knowledge and dietary habits. For this purpose, to assess the knowledge of the population of Maroua of the problem of veterinary drug residues, questions relating to this subject were asked during the household surveys carried out as described by Vougat et al (6).…”

“…The first step of this assessment in the Far North Region of Cameroon was made during our previous work (8). The second step was also addressed during the studies conducted in the same area (6,9). This paper is then the last two steps of this risk assessment.…”

Effect of different reheating processes and conditions on the nutritional, functional, and microbiological properties of cow meat

“…Cameroon occupies a prominent place in both sub-Saharan Africa and the subregion of the Central African area, due to its large livestock production rates with approximately 5.001 million cattle and meat consumption of 13.3 kg/per capita/year (FAOSTAT, 2014). In Cameroon, beef consumption is most prominent in the North, especially in Maroua with daily consumption of beef estimated at 133 g/capita, which is 10 times higher than the worldwide average meat consumption (Ritchie et al, 2017;Vougat et al, 2016). Aside from meat being a good source of both macro-and micronutrients, it contains some healthy compounds such as creatine, taurine, glutathione, and conjugated linoleic acid which have positive impact on human health (Candow et al, 2014;Spriet & Whitfield, 2015).…”