FOR many Filipinos, urban living means survival in a carnivorous world. But are those juicy burgers or chicken wings and drumsticks safe enough for the yuppie crowd?

Well, think twice. Contaminated beef and other meat, milk and water are the most common sources of disease- producing organisms—or pathogens.

Bloody diarrhea and related diseases for instance are caused by a pathogen called Escherichia coli.

Typhoid fever, meanwhile, is caused by Salmonella thypimurium.

The Salmonella are actually common inhabitants of intestinal tracts of animals, especially poultry and cattle.

Government scientists concede that these are but two of the most common food-borne pathogens which have become a major concern of government and the private sector in public health safety.

Pathogenic microorganisms, including Campylobacter and Listeria pose a food-poisoning threat. Fortunately, identifying these pathogenic microorganisms has become a priority of the Department of Agriculture.

The National Meat Inspection Commission, which is in charge of surveillance, prevention and control of food-borne disease, says that it is now requiring microbiological analysis to assess the quality and safety of food prior to public consumption.

This usually involves employing the conventional method of detecting pathogenic microorganisms. This method, however, is quite laborious and time-consuming.

Lately, the agency has ventured into a new procedure—which is accurate and rapid – in identifying these pathogens. DNA-based assays are now used for identification. These methods rely on the nucleic acid composition of the bacterium rather than the phenotypic expressions that may be variable under culture conditions.

Lately, Dr. Criselda Pagluanan, head of the central meat laboratory of the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) of the agency, says that because of the new procedure, they were able to issue clearance within two days, compared to five days using the traditional methods.

They have started using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), molecular based screening and detection of bacterial pathogens. All these are being done at the NMIC’s new biotechnology laboratory near Visayas avenue in Quezon City. The P11 million laboratory caters to 20 slaughterhouses in Metro Manila, but government hopes to set up similar laboratories nationwide.

Candice Lumibao, who is in charge of the NMIS’ biotechnology laboratory, says they are now testing more than 270 meat samples ranging from chicken, beef, pork, hotdogs, processed meat products from various slaughterhouses and private food corporations like Swifts, Purefoods and CDO Karne Norte.

Lumibao, a molecular biology and biotechnology graduate from the University of the Philippines, says they also plan to do more screening on four micro-organisms.

She began the meat testing on May 2004 for the screening of pathogenic micro-organism in meat and the screening of salmonella.

Lumibao was formerly a technical assistant at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in Iloilo before moving to NMIS.