EVALUACIÓN DE LA CADENA DE FRÍO EN CINCO FÁBRICAS DE CECINAS Y SU IMPLICANCIA EN EL RECUENTO MICROBIOLÓGICO EVALUATION OF THE COLD CHAIN IN FIVE PROCESSED MEAT FACTORIES IN CHILE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MICROBIOLOGICAL COUNT

The food health regulations from Chile control their manufacturing, distribution and storage. Due to the lack of published data on the implementation of the regulations, we evaluated the continuity of the cold chain in five factories of sausages, using pate and cheese head as control products. The results showed deficiencies in the maintenance of cold chain, mainly in the distribution and retailing of products. In addition, statistically significant differences (Student t test) were detected between the bacterial count of initial sample (at the factory) and final (after 5 days, p<0.05), indicating the breakdown of the cold food chain and the increase in microbial load. Since food preservation has a direct impact on public health of the population, further studies are needed to evaluate the cold chain operation in Chile.