Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Food Hygiene Department, Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Mansoura Branch, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
2
Department of Bacteriology, Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Mansoura Branch, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Egypt.
Abstract
Chicken meat products are essential sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Chicken meat products can be regarded as potential sources of foodborne pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Such organisms can find their way to the chicken meat products via their contaminated contact surfaces such as knives, cutting boards, and packaging bags. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of S. aureus in three chicken meat products including chicken mince, burger, and luncheon, 10 each, sold in Eldakahlya local marketplaces, Egypt, and their contact surfaces including knives, cutting boards, and packaging bags, 10 each. Second, PCR was applied to detect the coding genes of S. aureus-enterotoxins including SEa, SEb, SEc, and SEd. An experimental trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of the electrolyzed water either acidic, alkaline, or both on reduction of S. aureus load on the cutting boards. The obtained results revealed that chicken mince had the highest contamination rate among the examined chicken meat products, followed by burger, and luncheon, respectively. Cutting boards had the highest contamination rate among the examined contact surfaces. PCR revealed that SEa was the highest enterotoxin detected among the recovered S. aureus isolates, followed by SEc, SEb, and SEd, respectively. Electrolyzed water could significantly reduce S. aureus load with treatment by both alkaline, and acidic water achieved the highest reduction. Therefore, it is highly recommended to treat the contact surfaces of chicken meat products with electrolyzed water to reduce S. aureus contamination.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)
View on SCiNiTO