Abstract
Pork and pork products are important staple food in the diet of Vietnamese consumers. The safety of pork, including biological contamination, is a concern to several public authorities and value chain actors. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify Salmonella and total bacterial count (TBC) contamination of cut pork sold in different outlets, and determine the potential factors leading to contamination. A total of 671 pork samples were collected from different retail channels in three provinces in Northern Vietnam. Hygiene conditions and practices at pork vending premises were also observed and recorded. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Overall, Salmonella prevalence in retailed pork was 58.1%. Salmonella contamination in pork from traditional retail, modern retail and food services were 60.5%, 50.9% and 80.5%, respectively. Eighty percent and 68% of fresh pork in canteen and street food was contaminated with Salmonella. Only a small proportion of a subset of the pork samples (6.2%) tested met the Vietnamese standard requirement for TBC contamination. Average concentration of TBC in fresh pork in traditional retail, modern retail and food services were 6.51 (SD: 0.64), 6.38 (0.65), and 6.96 (0.85) LogCFU/g, respectively. Transport time, use of the same tools for pork and other types of meat, storage temperature, and environment hygiene are important factors that might affect microbial contamination. The findings underline the high level of microbial contamination, which requires practical interventions to improve food safety hygiene practices and behavior of pork retailers.
Highlights
Pork and pork products play an important role in the diet of Viet namese people, contributing over 52.7% of the total meat intake (Nguyen et al, 2014)
Cloth was used by 86.8% of the traditional retailers to clean or wipe pork and surfaces but it was rarely cleaned during the selling hours (11.7%)
Our study revealed a high prevalence of Salmonella and total bacterial count (TBC) con centration in key pork value chains in Northern Vietnam and identified associated risk factors
Summary
Pork and pork products play an important role in the diet of Viet namese people, contributing over 52.7% of the total meat intake (Nguyen et al, 2014). Pork consumption per capita has been increasing from 8 kg in 1990 to 30 kg in 2019, which makes the Vietnamese among the highest pork consumers worldwide (OECD, 2019). Pork consumers are concerned about food safety issues, especially those associated with chemical and mi crobial hazards (Ha et al, 2019; USAID, 2015). Recent studies reported that microbial contamination was the main culprit of disease outbreaks which contribute most to the burden of food-borne illness (Latha et al, 2017; The World Bank, 2017a; World Health Organization, 2015). More over, a recent study estimated an annual incidence rate of 17.7% for human salmonellosis in Vietnamese consumers that originated from pork (Dang-Xuan et al, 2017)
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