Comércio informal de carne e leite e caracterização da qualidade do leite cru na zona urbana do município de Viçosa, Minas Gerais

• Autor(a) principal: Merhi, Carolina Milner
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/5070
• topic: Leite cru; Patógenos; Comércio informal; Raw milk; Pathogenic; Informal trade; CNPQ::CIENCIAS AGRARIAS::MEDICINA VETERINARIA

Foodborne diseases are commonly observed in several populations being a problem to the public health systems and the cause of significant economic losses. The consumption of food from animal origin without surveillance called informal food, are usually associated to these diseases, because they are potential vehicle for pathogenic agents. The absence of adequate surveillance does not guarantee other quality and safety aspects of these products that can be defrauded or adulterated. The control of that kind of commerce, however, depends directly on the knowledge of the main reasons that determine the consumption of this food, and the association to visual tools, such as georeferencing, that help to identify the main problems that may guide the direction to official actions. In order to propose a model of study, the population from urban area of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, was submitted to an epidemiologic survey to describe the consumption habits of people concerning animal origin foods and from clandestine commerce, and also the possible features associated to foodborne diseases. Every data obtained were geo-referenced, associated to official data from Secretaria Municipal de Saúde on diarrhea cases, and thematic maps were elaborated to visualize the main variables that were identified. Still, 69 samples of raw milk from clandestine commerce were collected and analyzed for microbiological and physicochemical characteristics. 411 residences were visited, and the responsible for food acquisition answered a detailed questionnaire about food handling and consumption habits. Considering the answers, the consumption of raw milk (18.7%) was related mainly to possible benefits of this product to consumers, and the consumption of raw or rare meat (9.0%) was related to personal choice. For some factors, significant relation was observed (p < 0.05) to monthly income and level of education of respondents. The visualization of thematic maps allowed the identification of a lack of association between diarrhea occurrence and the consumption of feed that are usually associated to foodborne disease. Considering raw milk samples analyzed, high counts of the hygiene indicators and high frequency of samples with higher counts than the international standards of quality were observed. The assessment of physicochemical characteristics indicated high frequency of frauds, mainly by water adding. However, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were not detected in any sample. The presented model of study was able to show the importance of applying different tools for the characterization of food consumption habits and the possible association to foodborne diseases. Finally, the raw milk samples analyzed presented results that evidenced the importance of official inspection of products from animal origin that must be associated to educational programs for people about the problems of informal commerce, the possible hazards inherent to these products and the consequences to the health of consumers.