Abstract
Objetive: This study aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of meat sold in the public market in the city of Caxias-MA. Methods: For microbiological analysis were collected 200 grams of each type of meat (beef, pork and fish) sold in 5 boxes of the public market for determination of total and fecal coliforms. Results: The results were the presence of microorganisms indicators (total coliforms and fecal coliforms) in two samples of pork and three samples of fish, only beef there was, in any of the samples, the presence of these microorganisms. Conclusion: Therefore, the presence of total and fecal coliforms (E. coli) are food contamination indicators and pose a serious health risk to consumers, requiring tighter controls related to hygiene and handling of these foods.