Avaliação da qualidade microbiológica no processamento de pescados Evaluation of microbiological quality in fish processing industry

For evaluating the sanitary conditions of a fish processing industry 170 samples were collected from surface areas (equipment, utensils and gloves). Samples were collected twice per day, in the morning and in the afternoon. At each period, five samples replicates were collected at different days using swab. Aerobic mesophilic and coliform group countings were performed, and fecal coliform presence or absence was subsequently confirmed. The average counts of aerobic mesophiles varied depending on the surfaces types, mostly showing significant difference (p <0.05) among the period and day of samples collection. Of samples from equipment and utensils surfaces, 42% showed noncompliant results with the PAHO recommendations of 1.70 log CFU/ cm 2 for aerobic mesophiles and coliforms absence at 45°C. Of nonconforming result, 67% were detected in samples collected in the afternoon. Aerobic mesophiles counts ranging from 3.3 to 6.8 log CFU/glove were found in sample from glove, with a significant difference (p <0.05) among those from two collection periods. For total coliforms the variation was from 2.6 to 3.8 log CFU/glove. The inadequate sanitation quality found in this study in a food processing environment implies that it might resulted from not applying the accurate Hygiene Standard Operating Procedures.