Prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria spp. in poultry mince, poultry meatballs and poultry burgers

摘要

This study was conducted to determine the presence and contamination levels of Listeria spp. in 100 samples of chicken meat, including 40 mince meat samples, 30 meatball samples, and 30 burger samples which were retailed fresh in the markets of Ankara, Turkey. USDA/FSIS suggested methods were used for the isolation and identification of Listeria spp., while the number of Listeria spp. was detected by the Most Probable Number (MPN) technique. Chicken mince samples were contaminated by various Listeria spp. Percentages of contamination were 85% (34/40) for chicken mince meat samples, 83.3% (25/30) for chicken meatball samples, and 40% (12/30) for chicken burger samples, with mean values of 3.2 x 101, 1.3 x 101 and 8.6 MPN/g, respectively. In the samples, L. innocua was the most prevalent species, followed by L. monocytogenes and L. grayi. Besides these species, L. seeligeri was isolated from the microflora of mince samples, whereas L. welshimeri was found in the meatball and burger samples. The determination of the presence and contamination levels of L. monocytogenes in the samples showed that they were contaminated by the agent in 35% (14/40) of chicken mince samples, 20% (6/30) of chicken meatballs, and 26.6% (8/30) of chicken burger samples with the mean values of 6.2 MPN/g, 3.8 x 101 MPN/g, and 4.8 MPN/g, respectively. It is concluded that the presence of L. monocytogenes in 20-35% of the examined samples shows that it is a potential health risk in case of the consumption of undercooked fooddue to Listeria infections. In order to prevent this potential hazard, it is recommended that the legal rules determined by the European Union must be put into practice for those products in the risk group and that hygienic precautions are taken by producing firms.