Occurrence of aflatoxins and aflatoxin‐producing moulds in fresh and processed meat in Egypt

Abstract

A survey was carried out to detect aflatoxins and isolate aflatoxigenic moulds contaminating fresh and processed meat products. The fungal contamination was examined in 215 samples of fresh and processed meat products and 130 samples of spices used in the meat industry collected from different local companies in Cairo, Egypt. Processed meat products such as beefburger, hot-dog, kubeba, sausage, luncheon meat had the highest count of moulds as compared with fresh and canned meat. Out of 150 samples of meat products and 100 samples of spices, aflatoxin B1 was detected in five samples of beefburger, (8 micrograms/kg), four samples of black pepper (35 micrograms/kg), and four samples of white pepper (22 micrograms/kg). Aflatoxins B1 and B2 were detected in one sample of kubeba (150 micrograms B1/kg and 25 micrograms B2/kg); hot-dog (5 micrograms B1/kg and 2 micrograms B2/kg) sausage (7 micrograms B1/kg and 3 micrograms B2/kg) and luncheon meat (4 micrograms B1/kg and 2 micrograms B2/kg). Also, aflatoxins B1 and G1 were detected in two samples of turmeric (12 micrograms B1/kg and 8 micrograms G1/kg) and coriander (8 micrograms B1/kg and 2 micrograms G1/kg). Aspergillus flavus (24 isolates), and Aspergillus parasiticus (16 isolates) were the predominant aflatoxin-producing moulds isolated from both processed meat products and spices. Aflatoxins were absent in fresh meat, canned meat, salami, beefsteak and minced meat. The contamination of processed meat with aflatoxin was shown to correlate with the addition of spices to fresh meat.

Incidence of aflatoxin B1 in the Egyptain cured meat basterma and control by γ‐irradiation

“…Contamination of meat and meat products are common due to ubiquitous distribution of such microorganisms which lead to spoilage and/or food-borne mycotoxicosis [2,3]. The environment in slaughter houses, butcher shops and refrigerators are considered as the main source of fungal contamination of meat [4][5][6][7].…”

Fate of Staphylococcus aureus on Vacuum-Packaged Ready-to-Eat Meat Products Stored at 21°C

“…The bacterial pathogen commonly regarded as having the highest tolerance to reduced a w or increased salt concentration is Staphylococcus aureus (13). Mycotoxigenic or antibiotic-producing mold species can grow on meat products (1,5,14,15,17) and at lower a w values than are tolerated by S. aureus. Thus, these molds are a possible food safety hazard for RTE meat products.…”

Aflatoxin Contamination in Foods and Feeds: A Special Focus on Africa

“…It is therefore, suggested that withdrawal of animals from contaminated feeds onto mycotoxin free diets for 3-4 weeks could have allowed for sufficient withholding period to clear the muscles and organs from the toxins. Despite the low carryover rates of the toxins into animal tissues, AF contaminate fresh and processed meat (especially liver and kidney) at toxicologically significant levels of up to 325µg/kg in Egypt (Aziz and Youssef, 1991;Abdelhamid, 2008). It is only proper to indicate further herein that consumption of animal visceral organs (kayan chiki) may constitute a major source of AF exposure than muscle.…”

“…According to these authors, contamination of the toxins has been observed in ginger, garlic and capsicum. A survey conducted for aflatoxigenic fungi and AF in spices from Egypt (Aziz and Youssef, 1991) found black and white pepper contaminated with AF at unhealthy levels (range: 22-35 µg/kg). Zinedine et al (2006) found natural presence of AFB 1 in black pepper, ginger, red paprika and cumin from Morocco at average levels of 0.09, 0.63, 2.88 and 0.03µg/kg, respectively, with the highest level of contamination found in red paprika (9.68µg/kg).…”