Psychrophilic Microorganisms in Frozen Meat Products

One hundred fifty samples of frozen meat products (50 each of frozen minced, beef burger and frozen sausage) were collected from different butcher’s shops and supermarkets in El-Dakahlia province to evaluate psychrophilic bacteria.The obtained results revealed that psychrophilic bacteria could be counted in all examined frozen minced meat, frozen beef burger and frozen sausage each constituting 100%.The mean value of psychrophilic bacterial counts was 4.66x106 ± 1.7x106 for frozen mined meat, 7.62x105 ± 1.96x105 for frozen beef burger and 5.22x105 ± 0.59x105 for frozen sausage.The incidence of pseudomonas organisms was 52%, 50% and 58% in examined frozen minced meat, beef burger and frozen sausage respectively.The mean value of pseudomonas spp., counts was 2.8x104 ± 2.4x104 for frozen minced meat, 8.2x103 ± 3.9x103 for frozen beef burger and 3.23x103 ± 1.01x103 for frozen sausage.The incidence of Enterobacteriaceae counts was 100% in all examined frozen minced meat, beef burger and frozen sausage samples.The mean value of Enterobacteriaceae counts was 1.73x105 ± 0.99x105 for frozen minced 6.6x103 ± 2.4x103 for frozen beef burger, 9.19x103 ± 3.75x103 for frozen sausage.The incidence of Bacillus cereus counts was 22%, 24% and 30% in examined frozen minced meat, beef burger and frozen sausage respectively.