Department of Food, Nutrition and Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4 (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2468-2483 [S.W.]).
J Food Prot. 2020 May 1;83(5):896-901. doi: 10.4315/JFP-19-492.
Canadian First Nations communities rely on traditional preservation methods such as the smoking, drying, and canning of fish and game meats to ensure long-term food security. Unlike commercial food production, there are no recognized official standards for these methods, rendering their efficacy in producing microbiologically safe foods relatively unknown. In this study, 81 fresh or processed fish and game samples obtained from four British Columbia First Nations communities were analyzed for quality indicator microbes, foodborne pathogens, and mineral levels. Aerobic counts, coliforms (CC), Escherichia coli (EC), lactic acid bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (STA), and yeast and molds (YM) were enumerated using the TEMPO, whereas the presence of E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella were detected using the VIDAS immunoassay system. The opportunistic pathogens Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium were additionally detected using culture methods with subsequent PCR confirmation, and minerals (Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and Zn) were detected using mass spectrometry. With the exception of STA, microbial loads were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in processed fish and meat samples compared with unprocessed samples, and game samples contained higher microbial levels than fish; however, differences were only significant (P < 0.05) for coliforms, E. coli, and STA. E. coli O157:H7 was detected in one smoked moose sample, and E. faecalis and E. faecium were isolated from 21 and 2 samples, respectively. Although smoked samples contained significantly higher Na levels, they were effective in reducing microbial levels. These results indicate that current food preservation methods practiced by British Columbia First Nations communities are infrequently effective at reducing microbial populations, and in many cases, resulted in increased microbial loads. More efforts should be made to improve the dissemination of safe food handling and processing knowledge to ensure long-term food security and well-being.
加拿大第一民族社区依赖传统的保存方法，如熏制、干燥和罐装鱼类和野味肉类，以确保长期的食品安全。与商业食品生产不同，这些方法没有公认的官方标准，因此其在生产微生物安全食品方面的效果相对未知。在这项研究中，从不列颠哥伦比亚省四个第一民族社区获得的 81 个新鲜或加工的鱼类和野味样本被分析了质量指标微生物、食源性病原体和矿物质水平。使用 TEMPO 对需氧计数、大肠菌群 (CC)、大肠杆菌 (EC)、乳酸菌、金黄色葡萄球菌 (STA) 和酵母和霉菌 (YM) 进行了计数，而使用 VIDAS 免疫分析系统检测了大肠杆菌 O157:H7、李斯特菌单核细胞增生症和沙门氏菌的存在。使用培养方法并随后进行 PCR 确认额外检测了机会性病原体粪肠球菌和屎肠球菌，使用质谱法检测了矿物质 (Ca、Cu、K、Mg、Mn、Na 和 Zn)。除了 STA 之外，加工鱼类和肉类样本中的微生物负荷明显高于未加工样本 (P < 0.05)，野味样本中的微生物水平高于鱼类样本；然而，只有大肠菌群、大肠杆菌和 STA 存在显著差异 (P < 0.05)。从一份熏制的驼鹿样本中检测到大肠杆菌 O157:H7，从 21 份和 2 份样本中分别分离出粪肠球菌和屎肠球菌。虽然熏制样品中含有明显更高的 Na 水平，但它们能有效降低微生物水平。这些结果表明，不列颠哥伦比亚省第一民族社区目前实施的食品保存方法在降低微生物种群方面效果不佳，在许多情况下，导致微生物负荷增加。应更加努力地改善安全食品处理和加工知识的传播，以确保长期的食品安全和福祉。
