Safety and Quality of Chicken Meat Products

One hundred samples of ten poultry meat products were collected from AL-Ahsa markets (King Saudi Arabia). The samples were ranked from carcass cuts “filet and thigh” to minced meat or further processed products as burger, nuggets, frankfurter and meat paste loaf. Samples were collected in triplicate for sensory, chemical and microbiological analysis to assure their quality and safety. The obtained results revealed variation in chemical composition; some products with high fat % have an increased thiobarbituic acid value, which results in their unacceptability due to the appearance of abnormal flavor. Bacteriological analysis revealed that the mean total bacterial count was ranged form 2.7X10/g for nuggets to 3.3X10/g for burger and the other products in the range of 10 to 10 6 /gm, while S. aureus mean count ranged from less than 10/gm for all samples , accept 10/g and 10/g for mince and frankfurter samples respectively . E. Coli isolated form 70% of the samples and salmonella arizona was isolated at once form thigh samples. Thirty % of samples not comply with Saudi Standards due to sensory unacceptability and 20% of samples nonconforming with bacteriological specifications.