Microbiological Quality of Cream-Cakes Sold in Tekirdag Province

This study was aimed to determine the microbiological qualities of totally 120 cream cakes including chocolate and fruit type, purchased from 30 randomly selected pastry shops in Tekirdag province. Based on the Turkish Food Codex Microbiological Criterias Communique; 59, 50, 16 and 53 out of 60 chocolate cake samples tested were found to be potentially hazardous/unacceptible respectively for total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (98.3% of the total > 10(5) cfu/g), coliform bacteria (83.3% of the total > 10(2) cfu/g), Staphylococcus aureus (26.6% of the total > 10(2) cfu/g) and yeast and mould (88.3% of the total > 10(3) cfu/g). On the other hand, 60, 56, 19 and 55 out of 60 fruit cake samples tested were found to be potentially hazardous/unacceptible respectively for total mesophilic aerobic bacteria (100 % > 10(5) cfu/g), coliform bacteria (93.3% of the total > 10(2) cfu/g), Staphylococcus aureus (31.6% of the total > 10(2) cfu/g) and yeast and mould (91.6% of the total > 10(3) cfu/g). Salmonella were not detected in any of the chocolate and fruit cake samples. Obtained results showed that the microbiological qualities of cakes were poor due to poor hygiene and poor food handling practices in pastry shops.