Sources of contamination of cooked, ready-to-eat cured and uncured meats

Forty-five samples of unsliced, cooked, ready-to-eat meats on sale in retail premises and supermarkets were examined. Thirty-six (80%) had Escherichia coli I and 21 (47%) had coagulase positive staphylococci in numbers ranging from 1 to > 1000/100 cm.2. Twenty-one samples contained Clostridium spp. in numbers from 1 to > 100/100cm.2. Of the 45 samples tested, 11 (factory-produced) and 7 (home-produced) were examined after cooking but before being offered for sale. Cooked hams were contaminated after handling in a factory, as were samples of canned corned beef after sale and exposure for 24 hr. Some sources of contamination were: (a) raw beef, (b) factory and shop surfaces and equipment, and (c) workers' hands. Curing brines used in retail shops and supermarkets to produce corned beef were a potent source of contamination. The effect of holding cooked meats at ambient temperature on their spoilage (22° C) and food-poisoning (37° C) microflora was demonstrated.