Haileselassie Mekonnen, Taddele Habtamu, Adhana Kelali, Kalayou Shewit
Tigray National Regional State, Science and Technology Agency, Tigray, Ethiopia.
Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2013 May;3(5):407-12. doi: 10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60085-4.
To assess the food safety knowledge and practices in meat handling, and to determine microbial load and pathogenic organisms in meat at Mekelle city.
A descriptive survey design was used to answer questions concerning the current status of food hygiene and sanitation practiced in the abattoir and butcher shops. Workers from the abattoir and butcher shops were interviewed through a structured questionnaire to assess their food safety knowledge. Bacterial load was assessed by serial dilution method and the major bacterial pathogens were isolated by using standard procedures.
15.4% of the abattoir workers had no health certificate and there was no hot water, sterilizer and cooling facility in the abattoir. 11.3% of the butchers didn't use protective clothes. There was a food safety knowledge gap within the abattoir and butcher shop workers. The mean values of bacterial load of abattoir meat, butcher shops and street meat sale was found to be 1.1×10(5), 5.6×10(5) and 4.3×10(6) cfu/g, respectively. The major bacterial pathogens isolated were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus.
The study revealed that there is a reasonable gap on food safety knowledge by abattoir and butcher shop workers. The microbial profile was also higher compared to standards set by World Health Organization. Due attention should be given by the government to improve the food safety knowledge and the quality standard of meat sold in the city.
评估梅凯勒市肉类处理过程中的食品安全知识与实践情况，并测定肉类中的微生物负荷及致病生物。
采用描述性调查设计，以回答有关屠宰场和肉铺食品卫生与环境卫生现状的问题。通过结构化问卷对屠宰场和肉铺的工人进行访谈，以评估他们的食品安全知识。采用系列稀释法评估细菌负荷，并使用标准程序分离主要细菌病原体。
15.4%的屠宰场工人没有健康证，屠宰场内没有热水、消毒器和冷却设施。11.3%的屠夫不穿防护服。屠宰场和肉铺工人之间存在食品安全知识差距。发现屠宰场肉类、肉铺和街头肉摊的细菌负荷平均值分别为1.1×10⁵、5.6×10⁵和4.3×10⁶ cfu/g。分离出的主要细菌病原体为大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和蜡样芽孢杆菌。
该研究表明，屠宰场和肉铺工人在食品安全知识方面存在相当大的差距。与世界卫生组织制定的标准相比，微生物状况也更高。政府应给予应有的重视，以提高该市销售肉类的食品安全知识和质量标准。
