Microbiological Quality of Stuffed Mussels Sold in Istanbul

In this study, the microbiologic quality of stuffed mussels that are sold in Istanbul was investigated. For this purpose, a total of 50 samples were collected from indoor (restaurants and kiosks) and outdoor (peddlers) sources in different districts of Istanbul, and analysed for the total count of aerobic colony, Escherichia coli, koagulase positive staphylococcus, Bacillus cereus and the presence of Salmonella spp. Total counts of aerobic colony were determined between 2,20 – 7,23 log cfu/g (mean 6,27 log cfu/g) in 25 samples obtained from outdoor and 2,11 – 5,34 log cfu/g (mean 4,27 log cfu/g) in 25 samples obtained from indoor sources. The difference between the means was statistically significant (p<0,05). Bacillus cereus was detected in two samples (1.18 and 1,93 log cfu/g) from outdoor and one sample (1,70 log cfu/g) from indoor sources. E. coli (1,18 log cfu/g) and coagulase positive staphylococci (1,60 log cfu/g) were detected in only one sample (from outdoors). No salmonella was found in any of the samples. The results indicate that the microbiological quality of indoor stuffed mussels is better than the ones sold in outdoors. It was concluded that some of the samples may have a risk for public health because they may contain pathogenic microorganisms such as B. cereus and E. coli, despite very low percentage