Quality survey of frozen chicken meat consumed at government hospitals throughout different seasons in Assiut city, Egypt

This study was conducted to evaluate the quality of frozen chicken meat received at government hos-pitals in Assiut city, Egypt, during hot and cold seasons. A total of 308 chicken meat samples were collected randomly and subjected to sensory, chemical, physical and microbiological testing. The findings showed that frozen chicken meat samples examined during the cold season had a better sen-sory evaluation than those examined during the hot season. The mean values of the physical quality tests, which included pH, drip loss, and water-holding capacity (WHC), were 6.12±0.017, 4.13±2.8, and 63.60±0.55 in the hot season and 5.9±0.013, 3.32±3.09, and 81.28±0.48 in the cold season, re-spectively. The total bacterial count, psychrotrophic count, total yeast and mould counts were 6.9×105±8.7×104, 1.1×106±1.0×105, 3.9×104±3.8×103, and 7.4×104±2.7×103 CFU/g in the hot season and 4.4×104±2.2×103, 1.9×105±1.6×104, 1.4×104±2.0×103, and 3.8×104±3.1×103 CFU/g in the cold season, respectively. These findings indicate that temperature has a significant impact on meat quality; the frozen chicken meat samples examined in the cold season were in better condition than those examined in the hot season. It is necessary to maintain sanitary hygienic conditions during handling, packaging, storage and distribution particularly in the hot season.