The hygiene and quality of hare meat (Lepus europaeus Pallas) from Eastern Croatia

This research was conducted over two seasons (winter and spring) and comprised a total of 71 samples of hares shot in the eastern region of Croatia, and was aimed at examining the quality and hygiene of the meat. The degree of usefulness in relation to the total average weight of the shot hares was 66.54%. Chemical tests showed that the average amount of water in the meat of the hares amounted to 75.34%, protein 23.19%, fats 1.12% and ash 1.16%. Of the 71 samples examined, as many as 44 (61.97%) did not meet the requirements of the rules on microbiological food standards, of which in 19 samples (26.76%) this was due to the high level of aerobic mezophilic bacteria/g, 2 samples (2.82%) contained Staphylococcus aureus/g, and 37 samples (52.11%) were not satisfactory because they contained enterobacteria/g. In terms of heavy metals in kidney and meat samples, 17 (23.94%) did not meet the provisions of the rules on toxins, metals, metaloids and other harmful substances which may be found in food. Of these 15 kidney samples (88.24%) contained cadmium, and 2 samples (11.76%) mercury in amounts greater than the permitted concentration. Tests on liver samples from the hares (n=71) did not show organophosphorus pesticides, nor organochlorinated pesticides or polychlorinated biphenyls.