A REVIEW OF THE NUTRITIVE VALUE, AND MICROBIAL QUALITY OF ANIMAL EDIBLE OFFA

Meat and edible offal including liver, kidney, heart, and other internal organs are important sources for animal-derived protein and essential amino acids. Offal is very popular in Egypt for its unique aroma and flavor. However, edible offal can be contaminated with spoilage and foodborne pathogens. During different processing steps, starting from slaughtering, dressing, evisceration, and distribution. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was first to determine the health benefits of offal and secondly to investigate the prevalence of foodbornepathogens, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus in such offal. Intervention at the interface between humans, animals, and their environments is necessary to control zoonotic bacterial infections. This review demonstrated a clear gap inresearch on the edible offal that requires much attention. The studies reviewed herein showed that offal was liable for microbial contamination at a higher level, compared to meat.Therefore, such animal byproducts require extensive heat treatment before serving to humans