Prevalence of some bacteria yeasts and molds in meat foods in San Luis, Argentina.

In this work we evaluate the microbiological quality and the hygiene degree of meat foods consumed in the city of San Luis. A total of 515 meat food samples (315 from fresh sausages, 100 from hamburgers and 100 from ground beef) were processed, being the most of them non-industrial products. The microbiological quality was determined by counts of total mesophilic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, molds and yeasts, and Clostridium perfringens. The number of total mesophilic aerobes was within the 10(6) cfu/g limit set by the Argentinaan Alimentary Code (AAC). Two hundred seventy six samples exhibited E. coli levels between 10(1) and 10(3) cfu/g. The 58.26% of the samples with E. coli counts above > 10(1) cfu/g came from hamburgers and fresh sausages exceeding the AAC limits. Counts of molds and yeasts ranged between 10(3) and 10(6) cfu/g. From a total of 515 samples, 126 exhibited C. perfringens, out of which 80 (64.08%) gave counts > 10(2)/g, exceeding the limits set by the AAC. Out of these 80 samples, C. perfringens counts were above 10(5) cfu/g in 12 of them, and E. coli was also detected in 48 samples (38.10%). The samples with counts > 10(5) C. perfringens/g are potentially responsible for alimentary intoxication. The results obtained indicate the need to improve the processing and handling conditions of these products.