No abstract

Three types of processed meats (vienna sausages, shoulder ham, and cervelat), ground beef and broilers were purchased from 17 different supermarkets in the Pretoria area (South Africa) during 1991. The 232 samples were analyzed for the presence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with total aerobic plate counts (APCs) also being determined. Escherichia coli was found in 74.5% of the ground beef samples, in 79.1% of the broilers, and in 27.7% of the processed meats. Staphylococcus aureus was found in 23.4% ground beef, 39.5% broiler and 7.1% processed meat samples. The total APCs ranged from as low as log10 1 CFU/g of sample (shoulder ham) to as high as log10 12.1 CFU/g (ground beef). No identifiable relationship between the total APCs and the occurrence of E. coli and/or S. aureus was evident. This study confirms the view that E. coli and S. aureus are frequent contaminants of meat, with South Africa being no exception.

Three types of processed meats, vienna sausages, ham, and cervelat, were purchased from 17 supermarkets on three occasions in the Pretoria area (South Africa) during spring 1990. The 134 samples were monitored for Listeria, with total plate counts also being determined. Listeria occurred in 11 (8.2%) of all the samples, with the highest incidence in ham (14.0% of all ham samples). Except for one vienna sausage sample, all the samples containing Listeria had total plate counts of between 105 and 107 organisms per g sample.