Microbial spoilage of meats offered for retail sale in Mexico City

Causes of the food borne epidemics in Mexico City have usually been ascribe d to poor handling and preparation of foods. In this work, presence of micr oorganisms indicative of contamination were analysed in meat sold in Mexico City's retail outlets. Enterobacteriaceae, psycorothrophs, mould and yeast , and mesophile counts, were evaluated in meat from five animal species (be ef, sheep, chicken, rabbit and horse), pH, recorded as spoilage indicator, was not significantly different among days of storage nor animal species, c onversely, water holding capacity was significantly higher for horse meat. Mesophiles, psychrothrophs and Enterobacteriaceae counts were above legal l imits in beef after 5 days of storage at 4 degrees C. This was not observed in rabbit nor chicken meat. Mould and yeast populations remained constant until day 4. Moulds are seldom a problem, whereas yeasts play an important role in the alteration of flavour characteristics. In general, horse had th e highest initial microbial counts. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.