Sanitary and Microbiological Research of Fish Products Sold in Dnipro city

Fish is a valuable food product that has a high biological value, but spoils quickly because its muscle tissue contains a lot of moisture and can be contaminated with microflora through the intestines, mucus of the skin and gills. Insufficiently fresh fish can cause serious diseases: toxicoinfections and toxicosis, intestinal infectious diseases caused by Shigella, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Proteus, Clostridia, various coccal microflora. The urgency of this problem encourages the study of sanitary-indicative microorganisms of fish and seafood to prevent foodborne infections. The purpose of the work was to study the microbial contamination of ready-to-eat fish and seafood sold in the retail chains of the city of Dnipro, to determine the compliance of product quality with sanitary requirements. Material and methods. 53 samples of fish and seafood of different brands were analyzed: 23 samples of low-salt products, among which were preserves from fish "Herring", preserves from mussels, salted low-salt and 30 dried products: dried squid, dried squid rings and dried bull. The number of mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms, Escherichia coli bacteria, the presence of coccal microflora, mold and anaerobes were determined in each of the samples. Results and discussion. The results of the sanitary-microbiological study showed that 43.4% of the analyzed samples (23 samples) did not meet the normative indicators. The largest deviations from the norm were found in the content of mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms and Escherichia coli bacteria. The study showed that in 39.6% of samples the number of mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms was exceeded, and in 32.0% - the number of Escherichia coli bacteria. Most contaminated products were found among the samples of dried squid – 50% of samples, preserves from fish "Herring" – 36.4% and preserves from mussels – 36.4%, dried squid rings – 33.3%. It was found that 18.8% of samples of fish and fish products contained Staphylococcus aureus, 7.5% of samples – sulfate-reducing clostridia. Conclusion. The obtained results indicated the non-compliance of a large number of fish and seafood with the normative indicators. This may be due to the condition of the reservoirs in which the catch was made, improper processing of raw materials, non-compliance with storage conditions, transportation of the product. Therefore, it is important to further improve the quality of fish products by controlling raw materials, compliance of production technology with international and national standards. The solution of this problem is possible under the condition of state involvement in the process of quality control of fish products on the market of Ukraine. The results of research can be used to monitor the quality of fish and seafood sold in retail chains