Comparative study of bacteriological qualities of meat pies sold in some standard eateries and local kiosks in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

A B S T R A C T Comparative investigation was carried out on bacteriological qualities of meat pies sold in some standard eateries and local kiosks in Ogun State, Nigeria. MacConkey agar was used for coliform enumeration; mannitol salt agar was used for the isolation of S. aureus while total viable aerobic bacteria count was performed on Mueller Hinton agar. Isolates were characterized according to standard methods. Bacteria isolated were S. aureus, E. coli, Klebsiella spp, Pseudomonas spp, Bacillus spp and Enterococcus spp. In standard eateries, mean total bacteria counts of fresh meat pies, 2-day refrigerated meat pies and 2-day room air preserved meat pies ranged from 2.1 x 102 to 5.0 x 102 cfu/g, 6.5 x 102 to 4.5 x 103 cfu/g and 1.5 x 104 to 5.0 x 104 cfu/g, respectively. From local kiosks, the mean total bacteria counts in fresh meat pies, 2-day refrigerated meat pies and 2-day room-air preserved meat pies ranged from 2.0 x 103 to 4.5 x 103 cfu/g, 2.0 x 104 to 4.0 x 104 cfu/g and 3.0 x 104 cfu/g to counts too numerous, respectively. There was a significant difference between the microbial loads obtained from meat pies from standard eateries and those from local kiosks. The difference among the bacterial loads obtained from fresh meat pies, 2-day refrigerated meat pies and 2-day room air preserved meat pies also tested significant. It was concluded in this study that meat pies other than fresh from standard eateries are not fit for consumption, while all categories of meat pies from local kiosks pose high health risk to consumers Key words: Pie, pastry, minced meat, bacteria, health, risk, contamination,