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- Characterisation of alheiras, traditional sausages produced in the North of Portugal, with respect to their microbiological safetyPublication . Ferreira, Vânia; Barbosa, Joana; Silva, Joana; Felício, Maria Teresa; Mena, Cristina; Hogg, Tim; Gibbs, Paul; Teixeira, PaulaThe objective of this study was the characterisation of alheiras, traditional Portuguese sausages, with respect to their microbiological safety. Thirty-eight lots from 17 producers were analysed. The microbiological status of the analysed product can be considered of concern in terms of food safety. Although Campylobacter spp. and Escherichia coli O157 were not detected in any sample,and Clostridium perfringens when present was not at levels of concern with reference to public health, Salmonella spp. were detected in 2 lots of industrially produced alheiras, and more than 60% of the lots analysed were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes in concentrations higher than 100 cfu/g.
- Chemical and microbiological characterization of alheira: A typical Portuguese fermented sausage with particular reference to factors relating to food safetyPublication . Ferreira, Vânia; Barbosa, Joana; Vendeiro, Sandra; Mota, Ana; Silva, Fátima; Monteiro, Maria João; Hogg, Tim; Gibbs, Paul; Teixeira, P.Alheiras are traditional smoked naturally fermented meat sausages produced in the north of Portugal. They have not previously been characterized as to their chemical and microbiological status. pH and salt levels are insufficient to assure microbiological safety, there is ample opportunity for post-cooking contamination; the products require chill storage and cooking before consumption. Heavy metals and biogenic amines were, in general, within accepted limits for meat products. Lactic acid bacteria comprised the major microflora (ca. 7–8log cfu/g) with substantial counts of micrococci and enterococci (up to 7log cfu/g). Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria spp. were detected in several samples.
- Microbiological characterization of different formulations of alheiras (fermented sausages)Publication . Silva, Julieta; Barbosa, Joana; Albano, Helena; Sequeira, Maria; Pinto, Ana; Bonito, Conceição Costa; Saraiva, Margarida; Teixeira, PaulaDifferent ingredients in old recipes are becoming popular and the traditional alheira did not escape to this new trend. The objective of this preliminary study was to characterize microbiologically nine different formulations of alheira from five producers. In this sense, isolates obtained were characterized through different phenotypic and biochemical tests. Their susceptibility to different antimicrobials and the presence of virulence factors was also investigated. Lactic acid bacteria were the predominant microbiota, but pathogenic bacteria as coagulase-positive staphylococci, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. as well as indicator organisms were also found. Several virulence factors were produced among the different groups of isolates, with a high incidence of isolates producing β-haemolysis. Along with their potential pathogenic activity, also several antimicrobial resistances were found being the majority of isolates classified as multi-resistant. At our knowledge, this is the first study with these new formulations of alheira. A higher number of products must be analyzed, but we believe that results obtained in this study should help to alert consumers for the need of safe cooking time/temperatures of these products.
- Antibiotic susceptibility of enterococci isolated from traditional fermented meat productsPublication . Barbosa, J.; Ferreira, V.; Teixeira, P.Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated for 182 Enterococcus spp. isolated from Alheira, Chouriça de Vinhais and Salpica˜o de Vinhais, fermented meat products produced in the North of Portugal. Previously, a choice was made from a group of 1060 isolates, using phenotypic and genotypic tests. From these, 76 were previously identified as Enterococcus faecalis, 44 as Enterococcus faecium, one as Enterococcus casseliflavus and 61 as Enteroccocus spp. In order to encompass several of the known chemical and functional classes of antibiotics, resistance to ampicillin, penicillin G, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, nitrofurantoin, rifampicin, tetracycline and vancomycin was evaluated. All the isolates were sensitive to antibiotics of clinical importance, such as penicillins and vancomycin. Some differences in Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of antibiotics, could be associated with the enterococcal species.