Microbiological evaluation of chicken meat products

The aim of the present study was to compare the microbiological quality and safety of chicken products collected from a poultry processing plant and from the retail market. The collected samples represented 120 chicken product samples (mortadella, frankfurters, burgers, nuggets, fillet and fajita); 60 samples were collected from a poultry processing plant and 60 samples were from retail markets. For assessing the microbiological quality of these products, total bacterial count (TBC), most probable number (MPN) of coliforms and total mold and yeasts were determined. While, for evaluating the safety of collected products, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes were investigated. As well as, sensory evaluation of collected products was carried out. It was found that the bacterial counts in samples collected from processing plants were lower than corresponding samples collected from retail market. For instance, the obtained mean values of TBC in processing plant samples were 1x10, 4x102, 2x10, 2x10, 3x10 and 6x10 CFU/g in case of chicken mortadella, chicken frank, chicken nuggets, chicken burger, chicken fillet and chicken fajita, respectively. While for retail market samples, TBC mean values were 2x10, 2x10, 3x10, 3x10, 4x10 and 3x10 CFU/g in chicken mortadella, chicken frank, chicken nuggets, chicken burger, chicken fillet and chicken fajita, respectively. It was evident that most of examined chicken product samples either from processing plant or retail markets were contaminated with investigated foodborne pathogens, namely; Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes, in addition to contamination with mold and yeasts. In conclusion, the rate of contamination of chicken products from retail markets was higher than corresponding products obtained from processing plant, which is attributed to contamination of chicken products through bad handling during transportation, storage and marketing, as well as growth of contaminants as a result of improper storage conditions including temperature and humidity.