Your frozen chicken may have deadly Salmonella bacteria
Ready-to-cook chicken and raw meat stored above freezing point is likely to be contaminated with the Salmonella bacteria that causes acute food poisoning, a study by a leading state-run institute has found.
The study by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s food technology division tested 87 samples from supermarkets and departmental stores in Mumbai. The study, Salmonella in Indian ready-to-cook poultry: Antibiotic resistance and molecular characterisation, was published in Microbiology Research, an international online-only peer reviewed journal.
More than 50% of the 48 samples of minimally processed and raw meat samples stored at 8-10°C were found to be contaminated, the study showed but didn’t name the brands of chicken tested.
Though the sample size is small, it provided an insight into the way poultry is sold in the retail market in India. Reuters quoted a report by the US department of agriculture (USDA) which said consumption of processed chicken meat in India was rising annually at 20%.
The report also said four of every five Salmonella strains found were resistant to antibiotics, attributed to alleged misuse of antibiotics by poultry farmers to promote growth. The Food Technology Division and Radiation Biology and Health Science Division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre conducted tests for the presence of salmonella on 87 chilled and frozen RTC poultry samples of four brands from supermarkets and departmental stores in Mumbai.
Chilled RTC samples comprised mixed boneless chicken, leg cut, pre-cut, soup pieces, keema, assorted cut pieces, lollipops or drumsticks. Frozen RTC samples included sausages, keema, cutlet, nuggets, tandoori chicken nuggets, tandoori chicken tikka, chicken samosa, salami slices, seekh kebab, burger patty among others. The samples also contained ingredients such as flour, onion, water, spices and condiments such as coriander leaves, garlic, ginger, red chilli powder to name a few.
Commenting on the report, an expert said, “The consumption of frozen RTC poultry products is safer than chilled products as temperature plays a significant role in growth of salmonella.”
Dr Sumanth Gandra, an expert with the US-based Centre for Disease Dynamics’ New Delhi office, said, “In the US, contamination was 9% in 2014 in retail meat compared to India’s over 50%. We don’t know what practices are followed in India,” said Gandra.