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Bacteriological Quality of Beef and Hygiene Practices of Food Handlers in Butcheries in Kasama District, Zambia

The most common health risk associated with consumption of beef is microbial contamination, therefore the study was aimed to assess the level of bacterial contamination of beef and evaluate the hygienic practices in butcheries in Kasama district. Beef samples were collected from participating butcheries and a structured questionnaire was also administered to the food handlers. Microbiological quality of the beef samples was determined by Aerobic Plate Count (APC), Faecal Coliform Count (FCC) and bacterial isolation such as Salmonella spp and Staphylococcus aureus. The APC results revealed 40.7% of the butcheries sold meat in good bacterial condition (<4 Log10 cfu/g) while 40.7% and 18.5% were critical (4-5 Log10 cfu/g) and non-acceptable conditions (>5 Log10 cfu/g), respectively. The FCC revealed that 74.1% of the butcheries sold meat in good bacterial conditions (<2 Log10 cfu/g), while 14.8% and 11.1% were critical (2-3 Log10 cfu/g) and non-acceptable conditions (>3 Log10 cfu/g), respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 37% of the butcheries, none of the outlets recorded Salmonella spp. Overall, the microbial quality of most (74.1%) of the market-ready beef in Kasama district was acceptable for human consumption. Therefore, regular bacteriological monitoring and maintaining hygiene in the sales outlets and distribution chain is mandatory.