Incidence of Salmonella in Minced Meat Produced in a European Union-Approved Cutting Plant

Contamination of minced meat with Salmonella is still considered a major problem in food hygiene. Therefore, in this study the Salmonella incidence in minced meat produced in a European Union-approved slaughtering and cutting plant was investigated in detail. Throughout 21 months, 297 pool samples (1,485 individual samples) of mixed minced meat (beef and pork) were examined according to Council Directive 94/65/EC and to ISO 6579. Salmonellae were detected in 47 (15.8%) of the pool samples. After separation of the positive pools, 93 individual samples were determined to be Salmonella positive, representing 6.3% of the total 1,485 samples. Serotyping resulted in most isolates (69.6%) being identified as Salmonella Typhimurium. It was further shown that the incidence of Salmonella isolations varied during the year and that the isolation rate was higher on some days of the week compared with others. La viande hachee est l'un des aliments les plus souvent impliques dans les salmonelloses. D'une part, ce produit est predispose a la contamination a cause des nombreuses etapes de son procede. D'autre part, la pratique courante en Allemagne de consommer de la viande crue, par exemple dans les steaks tartares, augmente le risque d'intoxication. Pour ameliorer la protection du consommateur, une directive a ete etablie pour definir les conditions de production et de controle de la viande hachee. Basee sur les resultats obtenus sur les echantillons preleves pendant 21 mois dans un abattoir et une usine de decoupe agrees dans le sud de l'Allemagne, cette etude determine le taux de contamination par Salmonella et les serotypes predominants. La distribution des detections de Salomonella selon les jours de la semaine et les saisons de l'annee est aussi etudiee.