Abstract
Traditional meat products, particularly cured meat products, represent a specific group of products with large consumers in many countries of the world. The methods of producing them, depending on the country and region from which they originate, make them significantly different from their industrially produced equivalents; they may influence the microbiological quality of such products, making their health safety significant. The aim of this study is to determine the microbiological quality of polish traditional cured meat products manufactured in the North-eastern part of Poland (Warmia and Mazury, Pomerania and Podlasie). Nine types of cured meat products manufactured by four producers were investigated. In total, 90 samples of cured meat products were tested. The tests did not reveal the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli or Salmonella species in the cured meat products. In one of the products tested (Szynka Wędzona z Mazurskiej Masarni - raw), the presence of Listeria monocytogenes was detected, and in two of the products tested (Szynka Wędzona z Mazurskiej Masarni - raw and Kindziuk from Puńsk), Staphylococcus xylosus was detected. The total count of mesophilic aerobic microorganisms (TVC) ranged between 2.48 log cfu/g in Polędwica Wędzona z Mazurskiej Masarni to 6.45 log cfu/g in Wątrobianka, with the average values ranging from 2.99 to 5.56 log cfu/g (depending on the type of product tested). Own studies indicate that polish traditional meat products have no significance as a source of food borne pathogens; however, maintaining sanitary regimes seems to be essential for assuring quality and safety of these special products. Key words: Traditional products, cured meat products, microbiological quality, Listeria monocytogenes.
Highlights
Traditional meat products like cured meat products, have always accompanied people living in different areas of the world
The results of qualitative microbiological tests conducted on traditional cured meat products originating from three voivodships encompassing nine different products tested during three consecutive years did not show the presence of pathogenic species of bacteria: S. aureus, E. coli and Salmonella species
In one of the samples of Szynka Wędzona z Mazurskiej Masarni - raw, the presence of L. monocytogenes was detected while in four samples from two smoked products (Szynka Wędzona z Mazurskiej Masarni - raw, and Kindziuk from Puńsk) Staphylococcus xylosus was enumerated at the level of 5.5 × 10 cfu/g to 3.5 × 102 cfu/g (Figure 1)
Summary
Traditional meat products like cured meat products, have always accompanied people living in different areas of the world. In part, form large amount of generally available cured meat products, manufactured on industrial scale by large processing plants, and partly from the specific “fashion” for products of that type. It is mainly due to their unique sensory qualities (Borowska, 2007; Pomianowski, 2009; Żakowska-Biemans and Kuc, 2009; Kołożyn-Krajewska and Dolatowski, 2010). Purchasing such products may have sentimental background which is as a result of strive for flavours and aromas remembered from childhood; it may be associated, for example, with the “excellent cuisine” of the grandmother
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