Lactic acid bacteria of meat and meat products

When the growth of aerobic spoilage bacteria is inhibited, lactic acid bacteria may become the dominant component of the microbial flora of meats. This occurs with cured meats and with meats packaged in films of low gas permeability. The presence of a flora of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria on vacuum-packaged fresh chilled meats usually ensures that shelf-life is maximal. When these organisms spoil meats it is generally by causing souring, however other specific types of spoilage do occur. Some strains cause slime formation and greening of cured meats, and others may produce hydrogen sulphide during growth on vacuum-packaged beef. The safety and stability of fermented sausages depends upon fermentation caused by lactic acid bacteria. Overall the presence on meats of lactic acid bacteria is more desirable than that of the types of bacteria they have replaced.     

The aerobic psychrotrophic populations on meat and meat contact surfaces in a meat production system and on meat stored at chill temperatures

At a city abattoir, a wholesaler and 10 different supermarkets, surface microbiological samples were taken of carcasses, hands and apron fronts of members of staff and equipment (mincers and saws). In addition, minced meat, packaged and displayed in chilled cabinets, was also sampled. Carcasses, personnel surfaces and equipment were monitored by a modified agar sausage technique. From each of the highest dilution psychrotrophic plate counts, five colonies were selected randomly, isolated and identified (1265 in total). Microbes developing on chilled meat were also isolated from other surfaces in the production chain. On chilled meat (51%) and at the abattoir (36%) pseudomonads were the predominant organisms followed by the Gram-positive cocci on chilled meat and by Acinetobacter, Moraxella and Alcaligenes spp. at the abattoir. At the wholesaler Gram-positive cocci (32%) predominated, followed by Alcaligenes, Moraxella and Alcaligenes spp. Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, Neisseriaceae and related genera, Gram-positive cocci, species from the coryneform groups of bacteria and yeasts were identified from all the surfaces monitored. Identification with the API NE20 was unsatisfactory. Enterbacteriaceae, lactobacilli and endospore-forming bacteria were identified occasionally, but their significance as contaminating organisms seems low. No Salmonella spp. were identified. and accepted 25 July 1989     

The aerobic psychotrophic populations on meat and meat contact surfaces in a meat production system and on meat stored at chill temperatures

At a city abattoir, a wholesaler and 10 different supermarkets, surface microbiological samples were taken of carcasses, hands and apron fronts of members of staff and equipment (mincers and saws). In addition, minced meat, packaged and displayed in chilled cabinets, was also sampled. Carcasses, personnel surfaces and equipment were monitored by a modified agar sausage technique. From each of the highest dilution psychotrophic plate counts, five colonies were selected randomly, isolated and identified (1265 in total). Microbes developing on chilled meat were also isolated from other surfaces in the production chain. On chilled meat (51%) and at the abattoir (36%) pseudomonads were the predominant organisms followed by the Gram-positive cocci on chilled meat and by Acinetobacter, Moraxella and Alcaligenes spp. at the abattoir. At the wholesaler Gram-positive cocci (32%) predominated, followed by Alcaligenes, Moraxella and Alcaligenes spp. Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, Neisseriaceae and related genera, Gram-positive cocci, species from the coryneform groups of bacteria and yeasts were identified from all the surfaces monitored. Identification with the API NE20 was unsatisfactory. Enterbacteriaceae, lactobacilli and endospore-forming bacteria were identified occasionally, but their significance as contaminating organisms seems low. No Salmonella spp. were identified.     

Hadza meat sharing

In most human foraging societies, the meat of large animals is widely shared. Many assume that people follow this practice because it helps to reduce the risk inherent in big game hunting. In principle, a hunter can offset the chance of many hungry days by exchanging some of the meat earned from a successful strike for shares in future kills made by other hunters. If hunting and its associated risks of failure have great antiquity, then meat sharing might have been the evolutionary foundation for many other distinctively human patterns of social exchange. Here we use previously unpublished data from the Tanzanian Hadza to test hypotheses drawn from a simple version of this argument. Results indicate that Hadza meat sharing does not fit the expectations of risk-reduction reciprocity. We comment on some variations of the “sharing as exchange” argument; then elaborate an alternative based partly on the observation that a successful hunter does not control the distribution of his kill. Instead of family provisioning, his goal may be to enhance his status as a desirable neighbor. If correct, this alternative argument has implications for the evolution of men's work.     

Characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus associated with meat products and meat workers

Staphylococcus aureus strains with similar biotype characteristics occur in meat products and in the anterior nares of workers in slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants. Such strains are rare in humans not in frequent contact with meats. The biotype is staphylokinase-negative, β-haemolysin-negative, bovine plasma coagulase-negative, crystal violet type A and Protein A-positive. Most strains of this biotype belong to phage group II or are not typable with the international set for typing Staph. aureus of human origin.     

肉及肉制品中空肠弯曲菌的污染情况调查

我们对辽宁地区肉及肉制品进行弯曲杆菌属检查,发现12.9%(23/177)的样品为弯曲杆菌属阳性.经API Campy鉴定系统鉴定,其中26.1%(6/23)为空肠弯曲菌(C.jejuni)阳性,同时发现1株大肠弯曲菌.该调查证实,辽宁地区进出口的肉及肉制品中,存在空肠弯曲菌的污染,如果销售不当或再加工卫生不良,会对消费者的健康构成潜在威胁.     

Numerical taxonomy of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria from prepacked meat and meat products

Ninety-four strains of lactic acid bateria isolated from refrigerated, prepacked meat and meat products were together with 59 reference strains of Brochothrix, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus and Streptococcus phenotypically classfied, using 96 unit characters. Data were examined using Simple Matching (S_SM) or Jaccard coefficient (S_J), and unweighted pair group algorithm with arithmetic averages. Twenty-three clusters with two or more members were defined at the 84% S_SM-similarity level which corresponded to the S_J-similarity level of 61%. Based on S_SM, most field strains were included in nine clusters, and with three unsignificant exceptions these contained no reference strains. The field clusters were designated Carnobacterium piscicola (cluster 1; 5% of field isolates), Carnobacterium divergens(cluster 2; 9% of field isolates), Leuconostoc (cluster 9; 18% of field isolates) and Lactobacillus (cluster 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14; together 60% of field isolates). The Lactobacillus clusters had many features in common with cluster II of Shaw & Harding (1984). Phenotypical characteristics of major clusters are given. The S_SM and S_J based classifications basically coincided for the field strains; the exception was cluster 4 which now were split in two parts. Fourteen clusters were made up of mainly reference strains (S_SM). Most of them included more than one type strain on species level; exceptions were Brochothrix thermosphacta (cluster 3), Lactobacillus salivarius (cluster 17) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides (cluster 18). Several rearrangements were seen amongst the clusters of the reference strains when S_J, instead of S_SM, was used for clustering.     

Chemical meat bait traps versus basic meat bait traps in collection of adult flies

The aim of the present study is to compare the effectiveness of chemical meat bait traps and basic meat bait traps for collecting adult flies. Bait traps used to collect these species can be damaged by anthropogenic or environmental effects. In this study, chemical meat bait traps and basic meat bait traps were hung from trees in the garden of the Ankara University Forensic Sciences Institute. This activity was carried out on the first Monday of each month for nine months. During the study, 1894 specimens were collected. Of all these species, 1787 (94.35%) were obtained from chemical meat bait traps (CMBTs), while 107 (5.65%) were obtained from basic meat bait traps (BMBTs). To determine the diversity of species in CMBT and BMBT sample groups in our study, Shannon Wiener and Simpson diversity and dominance indices were used. Shannon Evenness Index was calculated to determine the relationship between species community‐density. Cluster analysis provided a summary of the similarity in species composition of different regions. The CMBT and BMBT trap groups similarity/dissimilarity feature was checked using Bray–Curtis cluster analysis. The number of species collected from CMBTs was considerably higher than in BMBTs. The results of this study will help researchers to save time. In addition, it should be kept in mind that thiamethoxam is harmful to the environment when it contaminates sources of water.     

细胞培养肉的生物伦理学思考

近年来,为了解决人类社会发展和环境资源的矛盾日益突出的问题,人造肉越来越多的进入人们的视野。通常所说的人造肉,可以分为植物蛋白肉和细胞培养肉。其中植物蛋白肉已经逐步开始商业化,细胞培养肉采用动物细胞进行培养,与真实肉制品更为接近。文中在分析细胞培养肉本质基础上,探讨细胞培养肉对肉类生产行业、消费者群体以及人类未来可持续发展的积极意义。在生物伦理学的视角下,研发和生产细胞培养肉有助于保障人类社会的可持续发展、提升动物福利、减少资源需求、改善肉制品营养功能,并为其他行业的发展提供新的增长点。此外,对于细胞培养肉生产涉及的食品安全、技术滥用、技术监管层面上的伦理风险提出进行了深入思考,希望能从生物伦理学的层面为人造肉行业的可持续发展提供参考。     

Human adaptations to meat eating

It is argued that Homo sapiens is a habitual rather than a facultative meat eater. Quantitative similarity of human gut morphology to guts of carnivorous mammals, preferential absorption of haem rather than iron of plant origin, and the exclusive use of humans as the definitive host by Taenia saginata and the almost complete human specificity of T. solium are used to support the argument.     

Evaluation of RapidChek Select for the screening of Salmonella in meat and meat products

The efficacy of the RapidChek Select, an alternative rapid method based on lateral flow technology, for the screening of Salmonella in meat and meat products, was compared with the current ISO reference culture-based method. Of the 265 routine samples examined, 61 were found to be positive for Salmonella by both methods. The percentage of agreement between the results of two methods was determined as 98%. All presumptive positive results obtained by the RapidCheck Select were confirmed to be positive by ISO method. For five samples ISO method gave positive result, while RapidChek Select gave negative result. The limit of detection (LOD(50)) of RapidChek Select and ISO methods for minced beef meat samples were 1.00 cfu/25 g and 0.63 cfu/25 g, respectively. For sausage samples, LOD(50) of both methods were 2.00 cfu/25 g. As a result, the high agreement between two methods and the comparable detection limits of two methods showed that the RapidChek Select is an efficient alternative method for the screening of Salmonella in meat and meat products.     

马铃薯渣发酵饲料对兔肉质、免疫功能的影响

研究马铃薯渣发酵饲料部分替代兔日粮和与沙棘嫩枝叶配合使用部分替代兔日粮对兔肉质及免疫功能的影响。结果,30％马铃薯渣发酵饲料,可提高兔日增重51．05％,降低饲料消耗（料重比）21．25％,对兔肉品质（蛋白质、氨基酸含量等）无显著性影响,对兔肝脾肾重及脏体比、血细胞指标、血清指标（血清总蛋白,白蛋白、球蛋白、尿素氮等含量及白球比;血清丙氨酸氨基转移酶,门冬氨酸氨基转移酶、谷草酶、谷丙酶、谷氨酸氨转移酶的活性血清碱性磷酸酶、肌酸激酶、乳酸脱氢酶活性）无显著性影响。30％马铃薯渣发酵饲料与沙棘嫩枝叶配合使用,可提高兔肉蛋白质、脂肪、氨基酸含量,改善兔肉品质。