Microbiological quality of poultry meat on the Croatian market

This paper presents an investigation of the microbiological quality of poultry meat sold on the Croatian market. Bacteriological analysis was performed on 66 samples of fresh, retail-cut chicken meat (21 samples of chicken breasts without skin “fillet”, and 19 samples of chicken breasts with skin) and frozen ground chicken meat (26 samples). Samples were collected from retailers (kept in cooling showcases at +4 oC, deep-freezers at -18 oC, respectively), and then bacteriologically tested for the presence of bacteria Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, Campylobacter spp., and sulphite-reducing clostridia. Total count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria was also determined. Bacteriological tests were performed by means of standard methods of isolation and identification of individual species of bacteria according to ISO requirements. API-tests (Biomerieux) and BBL Identification System (Becton-Dickinson) were used for biochemical determination. With regard to microbiological quality and contamination of chicken meat, of importance is the finding of Salmonella spp. (10.60%), S. aureus (30.30%), L. monocytogenes (3.03%), enterobacteria (34.84%) and sulphite-reducing clostridia (1.50%). Campylobacter spp. were not found in any of the analysed samples. Total bacteria count found in frozen ground chicken meat was 5.23 ± 0.50 log10 CFU/g, whilst it was lower in cut chicken meat. Total bacteria count in chicken breast fillets amounted to 4.72 ± 0.38 log10 CFU/g, 3.67 ± 0.88log10 CFU/g in chicken breasts with skin, respectively. Results of the study suggest that a significant risk of meat spoilage and an increase in the number and species of bacteria depend on the specific part of analysed chicken meat, mode of packaging and storage after distribution to the market.