Safety and quality of some chicken meat products in Al-Ahsa markets-Saudi Arabia

One hundred samples of 10 poultry meat products were collected from AL-Ahsa markets (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The samples were ranked from carcass cuts (chilled, frozen, fillet and thigh) to minced meat or further processed products as burger, nuggets, frankfurter and meat paste loaf. Samples were collected in triplicate for sensory, chemical and microbiological analysis to assure their quality and safety. The obtained results revealed variation in chemical composition; some products with high fat percentage had a high thiobarbituric acid value, which resulted in the appearance of an unacceptable flavor. Bacteriological analysis revealed that the mean total bacterial count was ranged from 2.7 × 10^4 cfu/g for nuggets^A to 3.3 × 10^7 cfu/g for burger^B and the other products in the range of 10^5–10^6 cfu/g. While Staphylococcus aureus mean count ranged from less than 10^2 cfu/g for all samples, accept 10^4 and 10^6 cfu/g for mince^B and frankfurter samples, respectively. Escherichia coli isolated from 70% of the samples and Salmonella arizona was isolated at once from thigh samples. Thirty percentages of samples not comply with Saudi Standards due to sensory unacceptability and 21% of samples nonconforming with bacteriological specifications.