NFSC 277: Food Microbiology project

Meatballs
By: Adriana Diab, Leila Tawk, Khaled kassak, L’ore
Khreis, Ezzeddine Zeinab
Food Safety

 Acc. To the world health organization (WHO) almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill
after the consumption of contaminated food and 420,000 die every year.
 Food safety is the most important measure in food production.
 Food safety measures should be extensively applied in food production and processing
companies.
 In order to prevent foodborne illnesses, we should :
• keep clean
• separate raw and cooked
• cook thoroughly
• keep food at safe temperatures
Manufacturing process of the food product

Mix with Meat

Raw material Meat grinding
seasonings chopping

Meatball
Boiling Draining Frying
formation

Packaging
(vacuum
packaging)
Spoilage microorganisms and their effect on
the quality of the product
 Meat is an important medium for microbial growth.
 Spoilage microorganisms cause food deterioration (bad taste and smell)
 Several studies were conducted to determine the microbial count in meatballs
 A recent study that was conducted on 60 meatball samples showed that 100% of the
samples contained aerobic microorganisms and Enterobactericae and 50% of the samples
contained Staphylococcus aureus.
Spoilage microorganisms and their effect on
the quality of the product
 Staphylococcus is detected by the presence of yellow colonied with yellow zones.
 The major spoilage microflora would be B. thermosphacta, Lactobacillus, Micrococcus,
and yeasts. Coliforms and Enterococcus may also grow in large numbers.
 The main factors that lead to food spoilage are changes in the pH, storage temperature,
oxygen availability, moisture, and water availability.
 Each microorganism has specific ideal conditions in which it can grow and multiply.
Spoilage microorganisms and their
effect on the quality of the product

 The different effects of meat

spoilage
 Consequences of food spoilage
 Causes of food alterations
 Origin of meat deterioration
 Effects of Lactic acid bacteria
 Effects of Staphylococcus aureus
 Lab testing for bacteria
The different effects of meat spoilage
Consequences of food spoilage
Causes of food alterations
 Origin of meat deterioration

 Breakdown of:

 Fat
 Protein
 Carbs
Slime formation
 Lab testing for bacteria

 Staphylococcus: yellow zones

 Enterobacteria: violet bile glucose

Pathogenic microorganisms and their effect on
the consumer health
 Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC): are usually associated with beef . According to a
report of European Food Safety Authority, STEC mainly occur on beef, which are
associated with 30% of illnesses in the Europe.
Effect: cause severe disease including blooding diarrhea and hemolytic-uremic
syndrome.
 L. monocytogenes:  occurs in fresh meat and meat products but human listeriosis
is predominantly associated with ready-to-eat meat products that have a long
refrigerated shelf life. Presence of L. monocytogenes in food processing
environments is specifically noted previously, with deli meats alone (particularly
sliced and packaged) responsible for almost 83% of all human listeriosis cases in
the United States.
Effect: Listeriosis causes fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If
the infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract, symptoms such as headache,
stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur in addition to fever and
muscle aches.
 S. aureus:  was detected in about 35.0% of retail meat samples such as raw fresh
meat, quick frozen meat, and ready-to-eat meat, which were collected from 39
cities all over China during 2011–2016); however, meat and meat products do not
significantly contribute to foodborne intoxication with staphylococcal
enterotoxins.
Effect: nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps with or without diarrhea.
 Beef:
The most relevant pathogen in fresh beef, particularly ground beef, is STEC. STEC cause
severe disease with an infectious dose of less than 10 cells. Many outbreaks of STEC have
been associated with consumption of undercooked contaminated ground beef or beef steaks,
For example, the outbreak of E. coliO157:H7 was linked to mechanically tenderized beef in
Alberta of Canada in 2012, resulting in 18 laboratory-confirmed illnesses and enormous
economic loss including 6,000 tons of beef recalled and a processing plant that accounts for
40% of the Canadian beef supply closed for over 3 weeks. Interventions with lactic acid or
other organic acids and steam or hot water reduce cell counts of E. coli on beef carcasses by
about 90%; however, current interventions do not safely eliminate STEC from the beef
supply. A study on 94 strains of STEC showed that most of the strains are resistant to
pressure and heat interventions, and thus cause great challenge to both conventional and
innovative processing technologies.
References

 Production of Meatball (2017). Video retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8uVGfWjS5E
 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-safety
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339313240_Track_the_Bacterial_Growth_for_Sp
oilage_groups_in_the_Meatball_stored_under_Chilling
 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4081/ijas.2015.4011
 Pathogenic Microorganisms and their effect on consumer health:
https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12617