Analysis of bacterial contamination in fresh and finished meat products and their molecular identification

Fresh and packaged food safety, especially of meat products has become a major issue because of microbial contamination. In the present study, an attempt has been made to isolate bacteria from fresh and packaged meat products from various sources and locations. The isolated bacterial samples were identified by Phenotypic, biochemical and molecular characterization. The veracity of the contamination does not depend only on the microbial quality but also on the physical factors such as handling of the meat products. The findings suggest that, to maintain the safety norms there is more need of new and advanced handling methods which would avoid bacterial cross contaminations in meat and meat products. Although less contamination was found in finished products, it also needs to be sterilized with bacterial resistant packaging.