Abstract
Background: South Africa is the net importer of poultry meat and has been since the early 2000s. The country produces 85% of local consumption and the self-sufficiency ratio has been steadily declining. On average South Africa imports 560 000 tonnes of poultry meat annually. With increasing consumption, the risk of contamination of poultry meat with food-borne pathogens becomes an important public health issue that can lead to catastrophic diseases in humans.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyse the microbiological reports of imported poultry meat that came through the port of Durban, South Africa from January 2016 to December 2018. The objective was to first study the correlation between Total Bacterial Count (TBC), generic E. coli and Salmonella species by looking at the country of origin, product, period and species as the variables. Secondly, the comparative risk profiles of exporting countries were also examined.
Methods: The study design selected was a retrospective cross-sectional study. The secondary data analysed was obtainable and available from the State Veterinarian Office in Durban with permission and the approved SANAS (South African National Accreditation System) accredited laboratories that conducted the poultry meat compliance tests. Only microbiological data (total bacterial count, Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp.) from poultry products that have been subjected to microbiological testing on frozen full carcasses, chicken feet, legs, breasts, offal and chicken skins were recordered. The data was collected from the period 2016-2018 and captured onto the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet every month. The total number of samples recorded for frozen imported poultry consignments that were bacteriologically tested for the presence and counts of a total bacterial count, E. coli, and Salmonella species, was n= 34161. The analysis of the statistical data was accomplished using SPSS Software v 27.0. The data was abstracted for the following variables i.e., period, species, product, country of origin and microbiological results. The data was cleaned, checked for completeness, categorised and transformed to fit data analysis based on the objectives of the study. Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05. Descriptive analysis was performed for estimating the relationships and or trends between variables
Results: This study showed that in 2018, the Total Bacterial Count (TBC) in poultry meat was significant when it was analysed against the period of importation. The majority of poultry meat imports 40.8% (13 929) occurred in 2018. Fewer imports 23.4% (7 995) were recorded in 2016. The distribution of poultry cuts is almost evenly spread, with unrecognisable cuts accounting for 51.7% (17 646) and recognisable cuts with 48.3% (16 515) of all imported
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consignments over the three-year investigated period. South America has the highest distribution of all the countries that imported to Republic of South Africa, with 20 782 (60.8%) poultry consignments, followed by Europe 7 790 (22.8%) and North America 5 200 (15.2%). Africa has the lowest distribution of 1 (0.01%). Most of the poultry species over this period were chicken with 93.4% (31 909). Of all the consignments tested for E. coli, 94% (32 107) were less than the threshold of 1 x 103cfu/g. The overall prevalence of Salmonella in imported poultry meat was 2.9% for the study period. In 2016, the Salmonella prevalence was 4.96%, 2.11% in 2017 and 1.3% in 2018. The countries from South America had the highest number of consignments that were tested for Salmonella spp in 2016 (6.5%) while Europe has the highest Salmonella spp prevalence of 2.8% in 2017 and 2018 (1.88%). The unrecognizable cuts of the product amounted to 51.5% (16 536) of all the products tested for Salmonella spp. and of those 3.6% (597) were positive (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The prevalence of food-borne pathogens is relatively low in frozen imported poultry meat compared to other studies. Food safety controls and protocols in international trade play an important role in reducing the incidence of food-borne pathogens in poultry meat.
Keywords: TBC, E. coli, Salmonella, Durban, 2016 to 2018, imported poultry meat.