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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1962 May; 10(3): 247-251

Further Studies on Staphylococci in Meats, ^1,2

III. Occurrence and Characteristics of Coagulase-positive Strains from a Variety of Nonfrozen Market Cuts

Department of Biology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

ABSTRACT

From 34 retail grocery stores and meat markets, 209 samples of nonfrozen meats were obtained and analyzed for coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus, employing six selective media. Sixty-seven (38.7%) of 173 samples obtained from 27 stores yielded S. aureus. No coagulase-positive S. aureus was isolated from 36 samples obtained from 7 of the stores. The 67 meats yielded 272 isolates from 10 different kinds of meats. There were 162 physiological strains represented when classified by store and 36 strains classified without regard to store of origin. The larger stores yielded fewer meats with staphylococci than the smaller stores. The meats from which S. aureus was recovered in the order of frequency of percentage recovery are as follows: chicken, pork liver, fish, spiced ham, round beef steak, hamburger, beef liver, pork chops, veal steak, and lamb chops. The following seven meats did not yield staphylococci: bologna, shucked oysters, olive and pickle loaf, salami, wieners, and chopped ham. Eighty-eight per cent of the isolates produced pigment, 85% were gelatinase positive, only 1 strain failed to form a precipitate on egg yolk agar, 92% formed deoxyribonuclease, 87% produced bound coagulase, 91% produced the -hemolysin, 70% the -, 22% the ß-, and 6% were nil in this regard. The isolates are compared with hospital and other food strains, and their possible source in the meats is discussed.

¹ Supported in part by research grant E3089 from the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Public Health Service. Much of the data in this report were obtained while the investigator was affiliated with Southern University, Baton Rouge, La.

² Contribution no. 79 from the Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts.