Avaliação da presença de conservantes em carne moída bovina comercializada no município de Itaqui-RS

Abstract

Among the beef cuts and the different forms of presentation, ground beef is a food well accepted by the consumer due to its practicality and affordable price, usually prepared in the commercial establishments from cuts of beef with lower commercial value. Thus, some establishments with poor hygiene use the fraudulent practice of additives to improve the appearance and quality of the product. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of ground beef sold in the city of Itaqui-RS, through pH parameters and the qualitative presence of preservatives. Samples of ground beef sold at 13 points of sale in the city (macro and micro supermarkets) were evaluated in three replications, totaling 39 samples. The repetitions consisted of three sample collections with an interval of 15 days between them. The preservatives investigated were sodium sulfite, nitrate and nitrite. The presence of the aforementioned preservatives was not verified in any of the analyzed samples, and it can be said that the practice of fraudulent addition of preservatives to ground beef is not yet a reality in the municipality in question. In the pH analysis, no sample was outside the range considered ideal by Brazilian legislation, all of wich were considered suitable for consumption.