Investigation of the hygienic quality of semi-prepared and prepared frozen snails produced by two Greek plants

In the present work the hygienic quality of "semi-prepared"+ and "prepared"+ frozen snails was studied. Fifteen samples of semi-prepared frozen snails from a Greek plant (A) and 23 samples of prepared-frozen snails, out of which 15 from same plant (A) and 8 from another Greek plant (B) were examined. The examinations were done separately on the flesh and on the "butter"+ of each sample of the prepared snails. In the samples of the semi-prepared snails, the following mean values were found: Total Plate Count 5.926/g, psychrotrophic bacteria 5.5314/g, yeasts 2.234/g, moulds 1.8946/g, total coliforms 0.1574/g, E. coli -0.4709/g, faecal streptococci 2.9091/g, S. aureus -0.0602/g. Sulfite reducing clostridia were found in 13.32% of the samples (2.5X10-2.5X10(exp 2)/g), C. perfringens in 4.34% of the samples (1.1X10(exp 2)/g), while B. cereus and salmonellae were not found in any of the samples. In the samples of the prepared snails, the following mean values were found: Total Plate Count 6.1412/g, psychrotrophic bacteria 5.0363/g, yeasts 1.4664/g, moulds 1.6356/g, total coliforms 0,4807/g, E. coli 0,0331/g, faecal streptococci 3.8935/g, S. aureus 0.2767/g. Sulfite reducing clostridia were found in 52.17% of the samples (14-3.1X10(exp 2)/g), C. perfringens in 8.69% of the samples (46-62/g), B. cereus in 13.04% of the samples (25-2.5X10(exp 2)/g) while no salmonellae were found. All the samples of the snails (semi-prepared and prepared) met the standards of the French legislation (C. perfringens 1X10(exp 3)/g, salmonellae absent in 25 g). A statistically significant difference (P0.05) concerning the TPC, psychrotrophic bacteria, total coliforms, E. coli, faecal streptococci and S. aureus existed between the samples of the flesh and the samples of butter produced by plant A. Also a significant difference (P0.05) concerning the TPC, psychrotrophic bacteria and faecal streptococci existed between the samples of the flesh and the samples of butter produced by plant B. This fact leads to the conclusion that the samples of flesh had a heavier bacterial load, compared to the samples of the butter