Evaluation of microbial contamination and effects of storage in raw meat ‐based dog foods purchased online

AbstractFeeding raw ‐meat‐based diets to companion animals has become a widespread practice, and many owners are now accustomed to buying frozen ingredients online. The goals of this study were to assess the microbiological quality of raw‐meat dog foods obtained from specialized websites and to evaluate the effec ts of storage at different temperatures for a few days. Twenty‐nine raw dog food products were processed for quantitative bacteriology (i.e. total viable count, TVC;Escherichia coli; faecal coliforms, FC) and sulphite ‐reducing clostridia, and analysed for the presence ofSalmonella spp.,Listeria monocytogenes,Yersinia enterocolitica andClostridium difficile. Every sample was examined right after the delivery (T0), after 24 to 48  hr and after 72 hr, both at 2°C and 7°C. At T0, the mean score for the TVC was 5.9 × 106 cfu/g (SD = 4.8 × 107 cfu/g), while those forE.  coli and FC were 1.1  × 104 cfu/g (SD = 2.5 × 105 cfu/g) and 3.3 × 103 cfu/g (SD = 6.5 × 104 cfu/g) respectively. The samples stored at 2°C had a significant increase of all parameters (TVC:p <  .01;E.  coli:p = .03; FC:p = .04) through time. Noteworthy differences between the analyses performed at 2°C and 7°C were found for TVC (p <  .01), being the samples considerably more contaminated at higher temperatures. No sample tested positive forSalmonella spp., whileL.  monocytogenes was isolated from 19 products,Y.  enterocolitica from three pro...
Source: Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Category: Zoology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research