Microbes on Meats

Overview

Objectives/Goals To understand the types of bacteria humans are exposed to through consumption of meat purchased from grocery stores Methods/Materials Organic and non-organic chicken meat from 3 grocery stores and water as control was cultured using Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) and Macconkey agar plates. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry was used for bacterial identification. Siemens Microscan for used for antibiotic sensitivity testing Results This study tested microbial presence on organic and non-organic chicken meat from 3 grocery stores. All samples had polymicrobial presence after 24 hrs of growth. There was no significant difference in number, type or amount of bacterial growth between organic and non-organic meat. Similarly, there was no difference in bacterial antibiotic resistance between organic and non-organic meat. Pre-packaged meat had less bacterial contamination than butcher meat. In addition, washing meat decreased bacterial growth. Most bacteria grown were non-pathogenic and are known environmental contaminants, but some bacteria found are known to cause infections in immunocompromised hosts. Conclusions/Discussion My study shows that all chicken meat samples from grocery stores had microbial presence. No significant difference in number of bacteria, degree of growth, type of bacteria or bacterial antibiotic resistance was noted between organic and non-organic meat. Bacteria were mostly environmental contaminants, but some potential pathogens were also found. Bacteria that FDA monitors- Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.coli were not found in the samples. These findings need to be confirmed by testing multiple samples. In my study,only one bacterium from each meat sample was tested for antibiotic resistance. Testing all pathogenic bacteria may alter findings on antibiotic resistance patterns.

Awards (1)

• Fourth Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2018 Microbiology (General) · Entry J1610

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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