Microbiological Contamination of Cattle and Buffalo Meat in Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

| In present study, cattle and buffalo carcasses were microbiologically sampled, from slaughter house and open market to assess the hygienic practices followed in Peshawar. During sampling two different conditions were considered, one condition was hygienic and found in slaughter houses and butcher shops located in clean and covered markets where meat was displayed in covered showcase; while under un-hygienic conditions meat stalls were sampled at open streets/vegetable market where meat was kept open to dust and flies. A total of 52 meat samples, 26 each from cattle and buffaloes were collected for microbiological analysis. The higher prevalence (100%) of bacterial organisms was recorded in the meat of buffaloes. However, relatively lower prevalence (96.2%) was recorded in the meat samples of cattle. A large number of colonies (g-1) and the mean bacterial counts (g-1) were recorded in the meat samples of buffaloes. In g-1 meat sample of buffaloes, the mean number of 330 colonies was counted while quite higher number (6.6×108) of bacterial cells was also counted in the meat samples of buffaloes as well. However, comparatively lower number of mean colonies (195) and bacterial counts (3.9x108) in g-1 were detected in the meat samples of cattle. In the case of un-hygienic conditions, significantly higher population of bacterial cells (4.0×105 g-1) was recorded in buffaloes than cattle meat (3.7x105 g-1). Furthermore, in hygienic conditions, significantly higher bacterial cells (3.2×105 g-1) was counted in the meat samples of buffaloes as compared to cattle meat (3.1×105 /g-1). Irrespective of animal species, the higher prevalence of bacterial contamination was evident probably because of environmental conditions prevailing in the area. This study confirms the need for use of Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures and Good Meat Handling Practices for safe and hygiene meat production in the area.