Table 2 Aerobic plate counts (APC) in samples from meat packing plants

Sample		Mean±SE	p-value^a
Month	January	2.47±0.19^J	<0.001
	February	2.40±0.00^K
	March	2.56±1.55^I
	April	3.31±0.98^G
	May	4.25±0.67^E
	June	4.48±0.29^C
	July	4.34±0.52^D
	August	4.64±0.72^B
	September	5.05±0.56^A
	October	3.41±0.81^F
	November	3.28±0.80^H
	December	2.47±0.16^J
Season	Spring	3.62±1.12^B	<0.001
	Summer	4.48±0.56^A
	Autumn	3.57±0.97^C
	Winter	2.46±0.15^D
Animal	Beef	3.59±1.12^B	0.614
	Pork	3.73±1.00^A
	Chicken	3.46±1.08^C
Product form	Raw material	3.39±1.00^B	0.140
Product form	Finished product	3.71±1.06^A	0.140

Results are shown as mean±SE. Means with different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) by Duncan’s multiple range test. p-values were calculated by ANOVA (unit: Log CFU/g).
^a Indicates that p-value for trend <0.05. Logarithmic transformations were used for the APC.
^A-K Means with different superscripts in the same column are significantly different (p<0.05).