Efficacy of warm water, Sodium hypochlorite and Trisodium phosphate on E.coli O157: H7 and Salmonella typhimurium artificially inoculated in Telapia nilotica fillets

Abstract

The Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (Tilapia nilotica) is a native fish in Egypt and it is widely consumed as it represent a great protein source. The health of Egyptians is badly affected by some foodborne pathogens such as E.coli O157: H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium which are being transmitted by eating the contaminated Tilapia nilotica fillets. This experiment was carried out to decontaminate tilapia fillets samples by reference strains of E.coli O157: H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium. This was done by dipping of samples in warm water (45°C) for 5 minutes, trisodium phosphate 8% for 20 minutes and sodium hypochlorite 50 ppm for 20 minutes. The count of examined E.coli O157: H7 was decreased by 98.05%, 94.5% and 70.49% for previous treatments respectively while the count of Salmonella Typhimurium was decreased by 82.62%, 78.12% and 32.39% for previous treatments respectively. Some fish products with inferior quality were distributed in markets so the government must apply strict legislations on producers to ensure safe fish products for people, and must improve hygienic conditions during fishing, transportation, processing and storage of fish products.