Abstract
ABSTRACT. Costa Lima B.R.C., Canto A.C.V. da C.S., Nascimento R.F. Franco R.M. & Nascimento E.R. [Prevalence of Salmonella spp. on the surface and interior of swine fresh sausage from retail service of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. Prevalência de Salmonella spp. na superfície e no interior de linguiça frescal suína comercializada no município de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária, 33(3):133-136, 2011. Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Vital Brazil Filho, 64, Niterói, RJ 24230-340, Brasil. E-mail: brunuff@gmail.com Salmonella spp. is one of the most studied pathogens involved in food borne disease. The meat products are important vehicle for this agent. The industrialization process of swine fresh sausages allows the survivability of these bacteria. The present study aimed to verify the prevalence of Salmonella spp. from the surface and the inside of the samples. A total of 91 samples were collected from two different commercial brands obtained from 15 retail establishments. Salmonella spp. were detected in 42% and 20% from the interior and the surface, respectively. From those samples, 9% presented the agent on both portions, 11% only on the surface and 33% on the inside. There wasn’t statistical difference between the two commercial brands. This high prevalence may promote health risk to the costumer, especially when related with cross-contamination. This high prevalence may risk the costumer health especially when cross contamination is a possible incident.