Elimination of listeria monocytogenes in the production of fresh snail meat

Abstract

Land snails, the kind of H. pomatia, used as research material were inoculated with two different Listeria monocytogenes levels, 3.07±1.11 log cfu g-1 in the first group and 5.49±3.32 log cfu g -1 in the second group, and fresh snail meat was produced both under the laboratory conditions and commercial production conditions according to the manufactuers procedure. In the samples taken from the outlet of steam tunnel during the production of fresh snail meat under the commercial production conditions, the levels of L. monocytogenes were found as 1.73±0.32 log cfu g-1 in the first group, and as 2.02±0.53 log cfu g -1 in the second group. The bacterial levels in both of the groups showed significant difference (P<0.01). In conclusion, the smaller snail's mass should be passed through the steam tunnel and the strict hygiene should be applied during the fresh snail meat production.