The consumption of fresh and frozen bovine liver is common in Egypt. Therefore, the purpose
of the current study was to evaluate the hygienic indices of fresh compared to frozen bovine
liver obtained from various supermarkets in Menofia governorate, Egypt. The aerobic plate
count (APC), coliform count, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (Staph. aureus),
and mold and yeast counts were evaluated in both fresh and frozen bovine liver. Our results
indicated that APC, coliform count, and E. coli counts were significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) in
frozen liver samples than in fresh liver samples. However, fresh liver samples were
significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) than frozen liver samples in Staph. aureus count. Compared to
the Egyptian Standard of chilled meat and frozen liver, all fresh liver samples exceeded
acceptable APC and coliform counts of 6 log10 CFU/g and 2 log10 CFU/g, respectively.
However, not all frozen livers exceeded the maximum acceptable limits of APC (5 log10
CFU/g) but surpassed the coliform count. These findings indicated that fresh liver and, to a
lesser extent, frozen liver were produced, shipped, and handled unhygienically, and that best
practices and legal requirements were not followed. |
