The role of monitoring production environment facilities to support microbiological safety and food quality in meat processing plants

Abstract

The results of many studies prove the microbiota of the surfaces of the production environment can be a source of food contamination. Environmental monitoring allows to identify problem areas in the enterprise and take corrective actions to eliminate them. This work is conducted to the analysis of the microbiota of abiotic objects selected in the area of close proximity to food products at a pork processing plant by sequencing the 16S RNA gene. The phylum Proteobacteria (from 37.7 to 73.6%), Firmicutes (from 0.14 to 18.6%), Bacteroidota and Actinobacteriota were the dominant components of the microbial communities of the meat processing enterprise. Bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas were found in all samples, the number of readings of these bacteria ranged from 1.90% to 28.76% of the total number of readings. Bacteria of the genus Brochotrix were found in samples from 0.02% to 2.75%. The identification of this phylum indicates the potential presence of pathogenic microorganisms and spoilage microorganisms at production facilities, which can negatively affect the quality and safety of food products.