Research Information System
Food Control, vol.15, no.5, pp.379-384, 2004 (SCI-Expanded)
The purpose of this study was to determine the microbiological quality of hot meals and salads sampled at the meal serving units of a military hospital in Ankara, Turkey. Five hundred and thirty food samples were collected between September 2001 and October 2002 and examined for aerobic mesophilic bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, coagulase positive staphylococci (CNS), Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens, and Bacillus cereus .Two hundred and eleven (91%) of 232 main dishes, 48 (68.6%) of 70 salads, all of the soup samples (n=130) and rice samples (n=98) tested were of acceptable microbiological quality according to the Turkish Food Code (TFC). Borderline limits of coliforms and E. coli for salads in TFC were 210 and 95 MPN/g while borderline limits of E. coli and S. aureus for main dishes were 9 MPN/g and 1 × 102 CFU/g. Coliforms, E. coli, and CNS were isolated, respectively, in 6%, 2.6%, and 2.4% of the samples examined. However, Salmonella spp., C. perfringens, and B. cereus were not detected in the samples. The microbiological quality of the soup and rice samples were deemed more satisfactory than the main dish and salad samples (p<0.001). Of salad samples, 20% harbored coliforms, 11.4% E. coli and 11.4% S. aureus whereas of main dish samples, 6.7% harbored coliforms, 2.6% E. coli, and 2.1% S. aureus. Manufacturing/distributing practices, level of personnel hygiene and cross-contamination precautions should be improved in the kitchen/serving units. In addition, it was also evident that the TFC needed new legal revisions. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.