FOOD. Science. Technology. Quality

Food. SCIENCE. Technology. Quality

Food. Science. TECHNOLOGY. Quality

Food. Science. Technology. QUALITY

Authors

ANITA KUKUŁOWICZ, IZABELA STEINKA, ADRIANNA SIWEK

Title

Aquatic products of different processing levels as a source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Aquatic products are one of the main sources of protein and other nutrients. They play a significant role in the human nutrition. Staphylococcus aureus is considered to be the most commonly occurring foodborne bacterial pathogen in the world. S. aureus is not a native microflora of aquatic products, but it can be isolated from freshly  caught fish. Those products can be additionally contaminated owing to the incorrect handling, storage under  improper conditions, transmission of the pathogen by workers and also it may be a consequence of cross- contamination. The wide use of antibiotics in the recent years led to a rapid increase in the antibiotic resistance  among the pathogenic bacteria. For this reason, the present research study was performed to evaluate the  occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the aquatic products of different processing  levels (frozen, smoked, marinated and raw). Based on the research conducted, it was shown that MRSA most often occurred in the frozen samples (approx. 83 %), and the least frequently in the marinated products (approx. 29 %).  Although the lowest percent number of samples with methicillin-resistant S. aureus was reported in the marinated  products, the lowest average number of those bacteria was found in the smoked products (0.54 log  CFU/g). Generally, about 41 % of the samples were contaminated by those bacteria.

Keywords

aquatic products, Staphylococcus aureus, pathogen contamination, MRSA

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