The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement on Thursday that its inspectors tested a cream-filled bun sample that was found to have an excessive number of staph bacteria, when they were carrying out regular random testing in Areia Preta.
The contaminated bun was found at a bakery called Magole in Rua da Saúde (“Street of Health”). The bureau banned the bakery from selling the cream buns immediately and ordered it to clean and disinfect the shop thoroughly, according to the statement.
The statement noted that the inspectors found 240,000 staph bacteria in one gramme of cream bun. According to the local “Microbiological Guidelines for Ready-to-eat Food”, food that contains over 10,000 staph bacteria per gramme is considered unsafe to consume.
According to the statement, the inspectors told the bakery staff to improve their production process and improve their food safety knowledge.
The statement noted that a staph bacterium, also known as Staphylococcus aureus, is a germ that can be found on the human body, especially in infected wounds. The statement also said that if wounds are not properly covered, the bacteria can be easily transferred to food that does not need to be cooked. The statement pointed out that the bacteria grows rapidly, and it can only be killed by extreme heat; therefore, staph bacterium is known as one of the germs that can cause food poisoning.
The bureau urged the public to be more careful when preparing food products, adding that before consuming or preparing food one must wash one’s hands.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
