[Microbiological studies of beef tartar].
Two hundred lots of 'filet américain' (a mixture of minced meat, acid sauce, condiments, salt, etc., meant to be eaten raw) were sampled from retailers and examined for several types of micro-organism; 185 lots had been prepared by the retailer, fifteen on an 'industrial' scale. Pork had been used in seventy-three lots (including fourteen 'industrial' lots); beef was present in all lots, horse meat in none of them. On the whole, the bacterial state of the meats in which pork had been used was found to be considerably inferior to that of samples not containing this ingredient. The aerobic bacterial count and number of yeasts, as well as Enterobacteriaceae and group D. streptococci were at least 10 times higher on an average in this case than they were in lots not containing pork. In the case of Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium perfringens the picture was similar, though the counts of the two lastnamed species were smaller. Salmonella was detected in 84 per cent of the pork-containing lots and in 13 per cent of the other lots. For Yersinia enterocolitica, these figures were 44 per cent and 5 per cent, and for Campylobacter fetus, subsp, jejuni 18 per cent and 6 per cent. The pH varied from 5 to 6. Lots containing pork averaged a higher pH. Addition of acid sauce had only a slight effect on pH levels. A number of these results were related to each other. It is concluded that the use of raw pork in meat products meant for raw consumption should be avoided.
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002417:Cattle; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D013552:Swine; D015003:Yeasts / Q000302:isolation & purification
Microbiologisch onderzoek van filet américain.