Beef Burger, Pastrami, and Sausages are the most
common types of processed meat to be fungal contaminated.
In her Master’s Thesis on “Fungi spoiling products of processed meats,”
researcher Radwa Ramadan Sayed Refaaie, Department of Botany and Microbiology,
Faculty of Science, University of Assiut, studied the fungi content in
processed meat at grocery stores and supermarkets in Assiut. The researcher
examined the fungi toxins contaminating these products, and the enzymes produced
by fungal species isolated from the meat products. The study also focused the
effect of chopped garlic and clove oil on fungal growth.
The researcher has come to the conclusion that the samples Beef Burger is the
most fungal polluted, followed by samples of Pastrami and sausage. Besides,
other samples of luncheon meat and canned beef included a relatively smaller
number of these fungi. Results also maintained that poisonous aflatoxin fungus
is the most common in processed meat.
The study recommends careful treatment of meat products before, during and after
its processing, careful preservation and handling in proper healthy environment
and conditions. She also recommends buyer to purchase from these types of meats
from companies which follow the standard ways of meat processing.
A New Study on Processed Meat Asserts