Professional paper

Microbial contamination of food refrigerators in households

Kristina Vujić
Marta Kiš ; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Nevijo Zdolec ; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

This paper investigates the microbiological cleanliness of the inner surfaces of food refrigerators in households. Swabs were taken from 25 refrigerators, and the presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp., and the number of Yersinia enterocolitica, psychrophilic bacteria, yeasts and molds, enterococci, enterobacteria and Pseudomonas spp. was evaluated. Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were not isolated, while the number of Yersinia enterocolitica, Pseudomonas spp. and enterococci was below the detection level. Psychrophilic bacteria were found in 13 swabs (52 % of samples), and their number ranged from 1 to 141 CFU/cm2 . Yeasts and molds were found in 11 swabs (44%) in numbers from 0.1 to 280 CFU/cm2 . Enterobacteria were found on the surface of one refrigerator at 2.6 CFU/cm2 . Refrigerator temperatures ranged from 1 to 11.3 °C with a mean value of 6.56 °C. There was no correlation between the refrigerator temperature and the number of psychrophilic bacteria and fungi. The variability of microbial populations and temperature regime of refrigerators was probably due to the diversity of the habits and lifestyles of household owners.

Keywords

household food refrigerators; food storage; microbial contamination; temperature

Hrčak ID:

250466

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/250466

Publication date:

13.11.2020.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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