Análise microbiológica, molecular e físico-química da carne moída comercializada em supermercados de Macapá, Amapá

Abstract

Foodborne Diseases (FBD) are a serious public health problem in Brazil and, as regards bovine meat, its chemical composition, high water content and a favorable pH constitutes an excellent substrate for a large variety of microorganisms, which can compromise its qualitative and sanitary aspects, associated with this, the processing in grinders and the excessive manipulation increases the risk of contamination of the product. RDC No. 12, 2001/ANVISA establishes microbiological standards for food that must be observed by establishments in order to have safety in the release of such products to trade. The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological and physicochemical quality bovine ground beef sold in supermarkets belonging to five major networks in the city of Macapá-AP. Sixteen samples were collected in duplicate of ground beef in 16 Macapá-AP supermarkets from June to August 2018 and submitted to physical-chemical and microbiological analysis protocols. To measure the actual temperature of the product, an infrared thermometer was used, and its result recorded and compared to the temperature indicated by the refrigerated shelf and to verify the pH of the sample, a digital potentiometer was used. The microbiological protocol consists of the selective enrichment steps, first in Rappaport-Vassiliadis broth and later in Selenite Cystine broth. The bacterial isolation was carried out in Salmonella-Shigella Agar and Bismuth Sulfite Agar and the biochemical identification was performed by the EPM MILI Citrate system. The enrichment and sowing stages were incubated in a bacteriological incubator at 37ºC ± 0.2 for 24 h, while the biochemical series in 48 h. In addition, it was conducted of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). There were inadequacies in the meat exposure temperature, in 87.5% of the establishments (n=14) the temperature of the ground beef was outside the standards established by the legislation, also highlighting the discrepancy between the actual temperature of the product and the indicated temperature in the refrigerated counter. As far as pH is concerned, only 6.25% of the samples (n=1) were out of standards exceeding the allowed limit of 6.2. Microbiological analyzes showed that only 12.5% of the samples (n=2) reached counts higher than 5.0 x 106 CFU/g for mesophilic bacteria, and 6.25% of samples (n=1) presented a 1.0 x 107 CFU/g for psychotrophic bacteria, important indicators that reveal the food decomposition stage. For Staphylococcus coagulase-positive, the analyzes identified the presence of the bacterial genotype in all the samples, but 31.25% of the samples (n=5) presented counts higher than 105 CFU/g marking the beginning of staphylococcal toxin production. The presence of bacteria of the genus Salmonella spp., confirmed by PCR, was detected in only 12.5% of the samples (n=2). These results evidenced microbiological inadequacies of bovine ground beef in supermarkets of Macapá-AP, due to failures in the product storage and, possibly, contamination by handlers, which is extremely important to increase the surpervision of official bodies, carrying out health education activities and good work practices to minimize the risk of contamination