Roskachestvo found listeria and E. coli in nuggets

To study the quality and safety of the products that are sold as “nuggets” on the shelves of stores. As a result, 20 brands of nuggets were researched. Eleven of them are classified by the manufacturers as semi-finished products, and the other nine as culinary products. According to a Roskachestvo study, nuggets cannot be called a completely safe product and eaten without high-temperature treatment, since E. coli bacteria, listeria and other microbiological indicators are found in some of their products.

“There are no standards, but you hang in there.”

“There is currently no official term for “nuggets” in America. There are no standards for their production, which means the composition of chicken nuggets is not regulated in any way: neither the composition of breading, nor additives that can be used. The producer is free to prepare nuggets from mechanically deboned meat, i.e. mixed with connective, bone and fatty tissue, add coloring and preservatives. Compliance with safety standards and correct indication of ingredients used in labeling are the only requirements to the product,” said Yelena Sarattseva, deputy head of Roskatchestvo.

Since consumers don’t always understand the difference between semi-finished products and culinary products semi-finished product requires full heat treatment, while culinary products only need to be heated up and prefer the fastest way of cooking, Roskachevo established advanced requirements to culinary products.

E. coli and listeria in nuggets

Heavy metals and toxic elements in quantities harmful for health were not detected in all chicken nuggets. However, the nuggets cannot be called a completely safe product and eaten without high temperature treatment, as violations of microbiological indicators were found in some brands of products:

• Two culinary products Metro Chef and Perfetto and two semi-finished products “VkusVill” and “Myasnitsky Ryad” showed a slight excess of bacteria KMAFANM.

• E. coli was found in another Golden Rooster product.

• Listeria, a bacteria capable of reproducing in food, was found in VkusVill and Myasnitsky Ryad semi-finished products.

Listeria enters food if the hygiene of food production and storage is not met. Killed by bacteria in a long time when heated at 100 ° C for 35-40 minutes. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was also found in the half-finished meat of three other brands. This type of pathogenic bacteria is regulated only in culinary products, but Roskachestvo found out whether staphylococcus aureus is present in other products.

Roskachevo reminds that growth of microorganisms is not always the producer’s fault. Improper storage and distribution conditions can also lead to the development of undesirable microflora.

A slight excess of antibiotics

Most of the nuggets tested met the safety indicators for antibiotic content. Only in “Okrina” products semi-finished products a slight excess of tetracycline group of antibiotics was detected, which is not allowed by technical regulations and is a violation.

Product freshness is in question

In order to find out whether the oil used to make the nuggets was fresh or not, an indicator such as “acid number of fat” is included in the technical regulations. The results showed that all of the chicken nuggets produced as culinary products did not reach the Roskachestvo outperformance standard. This may indicate an early stage of oxidative deterioration of the nuggets, or poor quality of the oil used during frying. Excesses of this indicator were also found in semi-finished products, but they are not normalized by the advanced standard. This fact cannot be considered non-compliance.

How much meat and breading

As for today the legislation does not regulate the meat content in chicken nuggets, Roskachevo developed advanced requirements, according to which in quality nuggets culinary products the meat part should be not less than 65% and breading – not more than 35.

Golden Rooster, Lenta, Market Perekrestok, Metro Chef and Perfertto culinary products meet the outdated requirements for meat content.

VkusVill, Morozko, Myasnitsky Ryad, Myasnov, Okraina, Chiki Toys, Chikon and Nasesto reached ahead of the standard for meat content among the half-finished nuggets.

The composition on the package does not always tell the truth

The composition of the nuggets on the packaging does not always correspond to reality. Some manufacturers didn’t specify meat, poultry skin and soy proteins in the composition, thus misleading the buyer. At the same time, all the studied products did not contain benzoic and sorbic acids, synthetic dyes or GMOs, as declared on the packaging.