Browsing by Author "Pucha Cabrera, Geovanna Mercedes"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Evaluación microbiológica de la sección de cárnicos en un mercado de Cuenca-Ecuador: Propuestas de mejora higiénico-sanitarias
    (Universidad de Cuenca. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, 2025-11-10) Arias Batallas, Jorge Andrés; Pucha Cabrera, Geovanna Mercedes; Zúñiga García, Daniela Estefanía
    Food safety in Ecuador's municipal markets is compromised by poor hygiene practices during the handling of meat products. One of the problems is the presence of microbiological contaminants on inert surfaces such as knives, cutting boards, scales, and saws. The objective of this study was to perform a microbiological analysis of these surfaces in a municipal market in the city of Cuenca, as well as to design and verify a Standard Sanitation Operating Procedure (SSOP) in the intervention area. 100% of cutting boards, 83.3% of scales, 75% of knives, and 50% of cutting saws were contaminated with total coliforms. On the other hand, 100% of cutting boards, 58.3% of scales, 43.8% of knives, and 50% of saws were contaminated with E. coli. In addition, 68% of retailers adopted the suggested hygiene operating procedure. These results show that cleaning and disinfection processes need to be reinforced and that monitoring and ongoing training should be implemented. The results showed high levels of total coliform contamination on all surfaces studied, exceeding regulatory limits. A significant presence of E. coli was detected, indicating failures in cleaning processes. The implementation of the SOP is proposed as an effective and replicable approach to improving food safety in meat sales environments at the market level.