MEAT BACTERIA 17S 



hand, it is advisable to reject or condemn all meats which emit 

 offensive odors, provided such odors are not normal to the meat. 

 Under normal offensive odors may be mentioned the fishy odor 

 of meats from animals which feed upon fish, mussels and other 

 aquatic animals; the sex odor which is often marked in the meats 

 from older males; the various vegetable odors due to feeding, 

 such as the turnip odor and taste in beef, fenugreek odor, etc., 

 etc. Distinctively putrefactive odors in meats are a very reliable 

 indication of their unfitness for consumption. Marked changes 

 in consistency (sloppy, smeary and porous meats) and in color 

 (grayish, yellowish, greenish) usually indicate advanced stages of 

 decomposition. Some authorities have recommended that the 

 presence of free ammonia should be the test for putrefactive 

 changes in meats and should serve as the basis for condemnation 

 procedures, but others point out the fact that toxins are formed 

 even before there is any appreciable formation of ammonia. The 

 safest guide to the quality of meats is undoubtedly the bacterio- 

 logical test. As to the question on what bacteriological findings 

 shall the quality estimates of meat be based, it is suggested that 

 judgment be based upon the number of bacteria present and 

 generally irrespective of kind. If exposed and comminuted meats 

 do not contain more than 1,000,000 bacteria per gram, they may be 

 presumed to be reasonably wholesome. The exceptions to this 

 numerical limit are the finding of pathogenic and toxin-forming 

 bacteria. The conclusive proof of the mere presence in meats 

 of bacteria which are pathogenic to man is sufi&cient to condemn 

 such meats. It is reasonable to assume that most bacterial in- 

 vasions of meats are of the putrefactive kind and hence objection- 

 able, and it is therefore fair and just to all concerned to fix a nu- 

 merical limit at which such foods are still reasonably wholesome, 

 as suggested. There are, however, those notable exceptions where 

 meat contains toxins and ptomaines in quantities sufficient to 

 produce serious and even fatal poisoning without bacteria being 

 present, as when fresh meat has been in contact with decomposed 



