Ready to eat (RTE) meat products are considered a rapid way to animal protein intake which may be preferred by consumers due to its palatability and quality; unfortunately, cooked meat products may be loaded by many foodborne pathogens especially Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) due to post cooking cross-contamination through mishandling andor getting in touch with raw materials; so, this study aimed to investigate the incidence of S. aureus in some RTE meat products followed by molecular detection of enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates and its enterotoxin genes in 120 RTE meat products represented by luncheon, burger, shawerma and kofta (30 of each) which were collected from different restaurants and street vendors in Benha city, Qalubiya governorate, Egypt. Results revealed that kofta samples were the most contaminated samples with mean values 3.42x103, and 5.2x10 CFUg for total staphylococci and S. aureus counts, respectively; followed by burger, shawerma and luncheon samples. Multiplex PCR detection of S. aureus enterotoxins (SE) genes revealed detection of different isolates carrying staphylococcal enterotoxin type A, type B, mixed strain carrying both staphylococcal enterotoxins type A and type D was detected. So, RTE meat products of low hygienic measures may be risky to consumer’s health. |
