Background: There is no information on the microbiological quality of retailed ground beef in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean. The objective of this study was to determine the total bacterial counts and detect the presence of Escherichia coli in samples of ground beef .sold in three major supermarkets in Bonaire. Methods: A total of 36 samples of raw ground beef comprising 12 from each of the three supermarkets collected over a period of 4 weeks were examined. Dilutions of each sample were inoculated on three plates of nutrient agar by standard procedure. The plates were incubated at 370 C/room temperature for 48 hours to determine the total bacterial count as colony forming units per gram (CFU/g). Additionally, 5 samples were used from each of the supermarket to detect the presence of E. coli. Results: It was found that the mean bacterial count of CFU/g of ground beef samples from supermarket 1 was significantly higher (224,800) than that from the supermarkets 2 (5280) and 3 (4800). The mean E. coli count in the samples from supermarkets 1 and 2 was 52 and 9 CFU/g respectively. Conclusion: This study is the first attempt to assess the overall microbiological quality of raw ground beef retailed in Bonaire by demonstrating significant differences in the means of total bacterial CFU/g, and counts of E. coli in samples from different supermarkets. This information can guide the producers of ground beef and the management of the supermarkets to recognize the good microbial quality of ground beef and to prevent bacterial contamination during handling.

Keywords: Raw Ground Beef; Bonaire; Total Bacterial Count, Escherichia Coli.