Daily intake and bacteriological quality of meat consumed in the households of Kigali city (Rwanda)

Meat is worldwidely known to be a nutrient rich food. It provides valuable amounts of proteins,vitamins such as retinol and vitamin B12 and minerals namely iron, selenium and zinc with an increased bioavailability than found in other dietary sources [1]. Along the production chain, meat can get contaminated by a wide range of spoilage and/or pathogenic microorganisms from the farm, slaughtering environment and distribution. The actual number of foodborne infections attributable to meat is difficult to assess accurately, principally because only a small proportion of illness cases is officially reported. However, by using outbreak data published internationally, Greig and Ravel [2] reported that 12.7 % of reported foodborne outbreaks were attributable to beef while 10.5 and 4.6 % were associated with chicken and pork, respectively. According to the same authors, Salmonella spp. and pathogenic E.coli, respectively, were identified as the causal agents in 32.9 and 34.6 % of foodborne outbreaks of bacterial origin attributable to beef. The objective of this study was to determine the meat consumption pattern in different socio-conomical categories of the population of Kigali city and to assess the bacteriological quality of the consumed meat.