Microbiological characteristics of poultry meats - Results of inspections carried out in the province of Milano, Italy

Examinations were conducted in terms of microbiological quality/quantity (TMC, Coliforms, E. coli, S. aureus, Sulphate-reducing Clostridia, B. cereus, Salmonella spp. and Lysteria spp. and Campylobacter spp.) on 240 poultry meat samples (chicken, turkey and quail) acquired pursuant to the standards set by the Regional Plan of programming and coordination in the field of operations concerning official inspections of Lombardia animal origin and by a few private companies for self-inspection. The TMC was consistently low and in line with reports in the literature, as was the case with coliforms, E. coli, S. aureus, sulphatereducing Clostrides and B. cereus. In the case of Salmonella spp., only 5 samples tested positive: one for S. typhimurium and one for S. enteritidis (chicken); only one sample from turkey tested positive for S. blokley, and two out of five samples analysed from quail tested positive result for S. typhimurium. About 3% of the samples analyzed tested positive for Listeria monocitogenes, but they were within the legal limits. Research on Campylobacter thermophiles has involved only 50 samples, of which only 5 have tested positive. These results confirm the high quality of hygiene and cleanliness of poultry meat, in accordance with that reported in the national literature and with respect to EU norms.