Chemical and microbiological properties of Mehiawah - A popular fish saucein the Gulf

Poor handling of raw fish at ambient temperature can easily lead to contami nation with pathogens like Salmonella. Listeria monocytogenes and Escherich ia coli and there was concern that mehiawah, a spiced, fermented fish sauce popular in the Gulf States, could pose a health hazard to consumers. An ex tensive examination of home-made and commercial samples of mehiawah reveale d that samples were free from vegetative pathogens even after storage for s everal months at 20-25 degrees C: Bacillus cereus was identified in one sam ple. The inhibitory nature of the product was confirmed, when fresh mehiawa h was inoculated with Salmonella typhi Staphylococcus aureus. Vibrio paraha emolyticus and E. coli. Only V. parahaemolyticus survived beyond 14 days an d even this species could not be detected at 21 days. It was concluded that , during routine manufacture, the initial processing of the fish eliminated any serious contamination, while the combined effects of salt, acidity, sp ices and, perhaps fatty acids from the fish oil, arrested the growth of any pathogens that might enter the product during bottling.