A Bacteriological Survey of Raw Ground Beef

Abstract
The microbiological quality of 150 units of raw ground beef obtained from a local retail store was determined. The range of aerobic plate counts was from 6.9 × 104 to 8.3 × 107/g. By using the most probable number method 96.7% of the 150 units were positive for coliforms, 94.7% for Escherichia coli and 61.3% for Staphylococcus aureus. By the plate methods, 99.3% of the units were positive for fecal streptococci and 56% were positive for Clostridium perfringens. No salmonellae were isolated. Aerobic and anaerobic organisms were isolated and identified. E. coli was the most frequently isolated aerobe followed by organisms in the Klebsiella-Enterobacter group. Among the anaerobic isolates, C. perfringens was the organism most frequently encountered.

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