Abstract
Forty-five samples of unsliced, cooked, ready-to-eat meats on sale in retail premises and supermarkets were examined. Thirty-six (80%) had Escherichia coli I and 21 (47%) had coagulase positive staphylococci in numbers ranging from 1 to > 1000/100 cm.2. Twenty-one samples contained Clostridium spp. in numbers from 1 to > 100/100 cm.2. Of the 45 samples tested, 11 (factory-produced) and 7 (home-produced) were examined after cooking but before being offered for sale. Cooked hams were contaminated after handling in a factory, as were samples of canned corned beef after sale and exposure for 24 hr. Some sources of contamination were: (a) raw beef, (b) factory and shop surfaces and equipment, and (c) workers' hands. Curing brines used in retail shops and supermarkets to produce corned beef were a potent source of contamination. The effect of holding cooked meats at ambient temperature on their spoilage (22° C) and food-poisoning (37° C) microflora was demonstrated.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- CASMAN E. P., MCCOY D. W., BRANDLY P. J. STAPHYLOCOCCAL GROWTH AND ENTEROTOXIN PRODUCTION IN MEAT. Appl Microbiol. 1963 Nov;11:498–500. doi: 10.1128/am.11.6.498-500.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gilbert R. J. Cross-contamination by cooked-meat slicing machines and cleaning cloths. J Hyg (Lond) 1969 Jun;67(2):249–254. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400041656. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Timoney J., Kelly W. R., Hannan J., Reeves D. A study of Salmonella contamination in some Dublin poultry processing plants. Vet Rec. 1970 Aug 8;87(6):158–161. doi: 10.1136/vr.87.6.158. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Walton J. R. Contamination of meat carcasses by antibiotic-resistant coliform bacteria. Lancet. 1970 Sep 12;2(7672):561–563. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)91361-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]