Microbiological quality of minced beef from butcher shops and supermarkets [Greece]

The microbiological quality of 230 samples of minced beef obtained from butcher shops and supermarkets in eight areas of Athens was examined. The aerobic plate count (APC), the number of Enterobacteriaceae, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Pseudomonas spp. were determined. Average APC log 10 ranged from 6.20 to 6.84, while for the Enterobacteriaceae, B. thermosphacta and Pseudomonas spp., the counts ranged from 3.15 to 4.50, 4.82 to 6.33 and 4.98 to 6.13 cfu g -1 , respectively. The influence of geographical area, type of shop and month in which the samples were purchased was investigated. The area of purchase significantly influenced (P<0.001) the counts of Enterobacteriaceae and B. thermosphacta but not the counts of Pseudomonas spp. (P=0.059). Moreover, there were significant differences in the bacterial counts in all the categories of microorganisms due to the type of shop (P<0.005). The correlation coefficients (r) of Enterobacteriaceae, B. thermosphacta and Pseudomonas spp. with respect to the aerobic plate count were 0.616, 0.678 and 0.605, respectively.