title: Assessment of safety of frozen foods.
abstract: This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of 90 frozen food samples (50 samples of raw frozen vegetables including molokeya, okra, green peas, peas + carrot, and artichoke, 20 of frozen poultry products and 20 of frozen meat products), and to assess the level of women practice during handling. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Results showed that the mean aerobic mesophilic plate count of frozen vegetables was 3.4 x 10(5) +/- 7.3 x 10(5) cfu/g. The mean mold and yeast count was 3.9 x 10(3) +/- 1.1 x 10(4) cfu/g. The mean coliform count was 3.9 x 10 +/- 6.6 x 10 m.o./g. In case of meat product, the mean aerobic count was 2.3 x 10(5) +/- 3.2 x 10(5), that of mold and yeast was 2.5 x 10(5) +/- 8.8 x 10(5) cfu/g and that of coliform was 3.2 x 10(2) +/- 3.8 x 10(2) m.o./g. Poultry products on the other hand had a mean aerobic count of 6.8 x 10(5) +/- 1.6 x 10(6), a mean mold and yeast count of 3.5 x 10(5) +/- 7.4 x 10(5) cfu/g and a mean coliform count of 6.4 x 10(2) +/- 5.2 x 10(2) m.o./g. Fecal coliforms were detected only in 60.0% of meat product samples and in 45.0% of poultry product samples. On the other hand Staph aureus was detected only in 10.0% of poultry product samples. Difference between the 5 types of vegetables was statistically significant (P = 0.00, and 0.02, respectively) for total plate and mold and yeasts counts. Among the 113 interviewed women, 80 used frozen food products. Twenty six of them (32.5%) had scores < 50%, those were classified as being bad as they were handling frozen food improperly which would contribute to outbreaks of food borne diseases. Less than 4% of the users used satisfactory practice during handling frozen foods. Illiteracy affected significantly the level of practice.
authors.affiliation: Food Hygiene Department, High Institute of Public Health.
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Gomaa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fawzi
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghoneim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005628:Frozen Foods / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology; D011202:Poultry Products / Q000382:microbiology; D012449:Safety; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology