Table 4.
The distribution of microbial contaminants that resulted in the rejection of samples across food category based on the reports of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in Lebanon.
| Food Categories | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbial Contaminant | Red Meat N = 1132 (% a) |
Poultry Meat N = 760 (%) |
Dairy N = 530 (%) |
Bakery N = 52 (%) |
Fish N = 51 (%) |
Nuts N = 40 (%) |
Desserts N = 167 (%) |
Spices N = 387 (%) |
Water N = 94 (%) |
Other N = 121 (%) |
Total N (% b) for Each Contaminant | p-Value c |
| Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) | 534 (46.2) | 391 (33.8) | 8 (0.7) | 5 (0.4) | 11 (0.95) | 11 (0.95) | 3 (0.3) | 159 (13.8) | 27 (2.3) | 7 (0.6) | 1156 (34.7) | < 0.001 |
| E. coli | 592 (55.3) | 200 (18.7) | 211 (19.7) | 7 (0.7) | 8 (0.7) | 4 (0.4) | 17 (1.6) | 8 (0.7) | 10 (0.9) | 14 (1.3) | 1071 (32.1) | < 0.001 |
| Aerobic bacteria | 190 (26.3) | 168 (23.2) | 57 (7.9) | 26 (3.6) | 31 (4.3) | - | 58 (8.0) | 82 (11.3) | 69 (9.5) | 42 (5.8) | 723 (21.7) | < 0.001 |
| Coliforms | 26 (4.0) | 9 (1.4) | 253 (38.7) | 16 (2.4) | 1 (0.2) | 6 (0.9) | 115 (17.6) | 99 (15.1) | 71(10.9) | 58 (8.87) | 654 (19.6) | < 0.001 |
| S. aureus | 279 (65.2) | 43 (10.0) | 67 (15.7) | 3 (0.7) | 8 (1.9) | - | 18 (4.2) | 3 (0.7) | 1 (0.2) | 6 (1.4) | 428 (12.8) | < 0.001 |
| Salmonella spp. | 126 (32.6) | 240 (62.0) | 6 (1.6) | - | 1 (0.3) | - | 5 (1.3) | 2 (0.5) | - | 7 (1.8) | 387 (11.6) | < 0.001 |
| Streptococcus spp. | 7 (8.9) | 3 (3.8) | 5 (6.3) | - | 2 (2.5) | - | 4 (5.1) | 14 (17.7) | 39 (49.4) | 5 (6.3) | 79 (2.4) | < 0.001 |
| Listeria monocytogenes | 31 (52.5) | 13 (22.0) | 14 (23.7) | 1 (1.7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 59 (1.8) | < 0.001 |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 48 (100.0) | - | 48 (1.4) | < 0.001 |
| Clostridium botulinum | 4 (18.2) | 2 (9.1) | 1(4.5) | - | 1 (4.5) | - | 1(4.5) | 2(9.1) | 1(4.5) | 10 (45.5) | 22 (0.7) | < 0.001 |
| Yeast/fungi | 11 (2.6) | 8 (1.9) | 160 (37.1) | 24 (5.6) | 3 (0.7) | 17 (3.9) | 20 (4.6) | 151 (35.0) | - | 37 (8.6) | 431 (12.9) | < 0.001 |
| Aflatoxin | 1 (3.7) | - | - | - | - | 5 (18.5) | - | 20 (74.1) | - | 1 (3.7) | 27 (0.8) | < 0.001 |
a Percentages were calculated by dividing the number of samples rejected for each microbial contaminant within each food category to the total number of samples rejected for the same microbial contaminant b Total percentages were calculated by dividing the number of samples rejected for each microbial contaminant to the total number of rejected samples. c p-values were derived from Chi-square tests that were conducted to examine the associations between food categories and each type of microbial contaminant (Yes vs. No).