Incidence and contamination level of Clostridium perfringens in meat and meat products sold in Sakarya province of Turkey

Abstract

Totally 101 meat and meat product samples obtained from local markets and restaurants were analyzed for incidence and contamination level of Clostridium perfringens. The typical colonies grown anaerobically on Tryptose Sulfite Cycloserine Agar supplemented with 4-Methyliumbelliferyl (MUP) were confirmed by biochemical tests. Forty-eight of the samples (47.5%) were contaminated with C. perfringens. The highest incidence of the pathogen was determined in uncooked meatball samples (72.2%) followed by ground beef samples (61.3%). The incidence of C. perfringens in chicken meat, cooked meat döner, cooked chicken döner and emulsified meat product samples were 33.3, 33.3, 28.6 and 16.7%, respectively. Thirteen out of 101 samples (12.9%) yielded typical colonies on TSC-MUP Agar, but could not be confirmed as C. perfringens. Average contamination levels in sample groups ranged from 8.3 to 1.5×102 cfu/g, with the highest ground beef and the lowest chicken meat.