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Title
Abstract
Microbiological quality of vacuum-packaged sliced meat products, which are available on the marketplace, has been analysed in this paper in terms of Listeria spp. occurrence. 27 samples of meat products from various producers were investigated. Results demonstrated that about 44% of them showed a high level of microbial contamination, exceeding 108 cfu/g. It has also been found that 12 samples (about 44%) were contaminated by Listeria spp. and in seven of them Listeria monocytogenes was determined while in the remaining five Listeria innocua. Coliforms bacteria were isolated from eight of the examined meat products. Obtained results indicate that microbiological quality of commercially purchased vacuumpackaged meat products is disputable due to both a high incidence of Listeria monocytogenes and a high lactic acid bacteria count.
Keywords
sliced meat products, vacuum packing, microbiological quality