title: Sources of contamination of cooked, ready-to-eat cured and uncured meats.
abstract: Forty-five samples of unsliced, cooked, ready-to-eat meats on sale in retail premises and supermarkets were examined. Thirty-six (80%) had Escherichia coli I and 21 (47%) had coagulase positive staphylococci in numbers ranging from 1 to > 1000/100 cm.(2). Twenty-one samples contained Clostridium spp. in numbers from 1 to > 100/100 cm.(2). Of the 45 samples tested, 11 (factory-produced) and 7 (home-produced) were examined after cooking but before being offered for sale. Cooked hams were contaminated after handling in a factory, as were samples of canned corned beef after sale and exposure for 24 hr. Some sources of contamination were: (a) raw beef, (b) factory and shop surfaces and equipment, and (c) workers' hands. Curing brines used in retail shops and supermarkets to produce corned beef were a potent source of contamination. The effect of holding cooked meats at ambient temperature on their spoilage (22 degrees C) and food-poisoning (37 degrees C) microflora was demonstrated.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003013:Clostridium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D008460:Meat; D008462:Meat-Packing Industry; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride