Identification of Bacterial Pathogens in Organic Food of Animal Origin in Poland

The consumption of organic food has increased in recent years. In organic rearing animals are exposed to outdoor conditions, which may increase their risk of infection from various pathogens. In the present study the occurrence of the most significant foodborne pathogenic bacteria in organic meat and ready-to-eat organic meat products was assessed. Out of 100 raw organic meat samples tested, 72 were contaminated with bacterial pathogens. The highest percentage of contaminated samples was observed in poultry meat (92.5%) followed by pork meat (66.7%). Furthermore, 50.0% of beef origin samples were positive for the bacteria tested. <i>L. monocytogenes</i> was found in 39.0% of samples, <i>S. aureus</i> was identified in 37.0%, <i>Campylobacter</i> in 20.0%, <i>Salmonella</i> in 8.0% and Shigatoxin-producing <i>E. coli</i> in 4.0% of raw meat samples. In 31.0% of samples a co-occurrence of two (83.9%) or three (16.1%) pathogens was observed. Among 100 samples of organic meat products tested, only <i>L. monocytogenes</i> was found in 5.0% of samples. The result of the present study indicated that organic food may be a source of harmful microorganisms that may pose foodborne infections to consumers.