The Use of Food Additives and Antimicrobial Drug Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. Contaminated in Processed Meat Products in 15 Provinces of Thailand

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the use of food additives including benzoic acid, sorbic acid, synthetic food colors, nitrate and nitrite; by using High performance liquid Chromatography.Contamination of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. were tested by conventional method and antimicrobial drug resistance was tested by disk diffusion. The declaration of food additives complying with the labelling Notification on the products was also studied. Total 459 sample of processed meat products including pork sausages, the northeastern pork sausages (Isaan sausages), fermented pork (Nham), ham, Chinese sausages and the northeastern beefsausages (Mum) were collected from markets and supermarkets in 15 provinces of Thailand between January and August, 2018. The results show that pork sausages, Isaan sausages, Nham,ham, Chinese sausages and Mum contained nitrate 52.5%. Pork sausages, Isaan sausages, Nham and Chinese sausages contained synthetic food colors 7.0%. Some products contained food additives exceed the maximum permitted levels. Benzoic acid at concentrations of 1,358 milligrams
per kilogram was found in one Chinese sausages. Sorbic acid at concentrations of 2,175 - 2,764 milligrams per kilogram was found in three pork sausages. Nitrite at concentrations of 118.1- 185.0 milligrams per kilogram was found in one each of Chinese sausage, Nham and pork sausage. It was also found that 60.3% of the products labeling show incorrect information of food additives used including non-declaration food additives used 45.3%, declaration of incorrect International
Numbering System (INS) 8.5% and declaration of food additives unused 6.5%. Moreover, it was found that 11.3% of Isaan sausages, Nham Chinese sausages and Mum was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and 18.7 % of all of the products were contaminated with Salmonella spp. Although, these pathogens have shown susceptibility to most antimicrobial drugs but some strains of Salmonella spp. have shown resistance to multi-antimicrobial drugs and colistin which is an important antibiotic used for treatment of infections caused by gram-negative bacteria in Thailand. For safety consumption of food and prevention of foodborne illness, consumers have to purchase refrigerated products, consume cooked or reheated products and store the products in the refrigerator. Manufacturers must control sanitation of production processes and use food additives complying with the notification. In addition, misuses of food additives in the processed meat
products should be strictly controlled.