Molecular detection of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in some ready to eat meat based sandwiches

Abstract

Ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products sandwiches are one of the most popular fast foods on which consumers depend. Unfortunately, it may be exposed to many contamination sources and harbored many food poisoning factors, especially with street vendors emerging in the developing world. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and its enterotoxins (SEs) are one of the most recorded food intoxication causes which contribute a health hazard risk. Therefore, one-hundred and twenty samples of beef kofta, bovine liver, chicken nuggets, and fish fillet RTE sandwiches (30 of each) were collected randomly from different street vendors and restaurants in Benha city, Qalubiya Governorate, Egypt, for bacteriological and molecular detection of coagulase-positive enterotoxigenic S. aureus contamination. Results revealed that beef kofta sandwich samples recorded the highest incidences and mean counts of S. aureus detection 40% and 12x103 CFUg, respectively; followed by chicken nuggets, fish fillet, and bovine liver sandwich samples; conducting antimicrobial sensitivity on the isolated strains revealed totally resistance to nalidixic acid while mostly sensitive to erythromycin; On the other hand, molecular detection of S. aureus enterotoxin (SE) genes revealed detection of SeA, SeC, and SeD genes carrying strains where SeA was the most frequently detected, mixed strain carrying both SeC and SeD was detected; while failed to detect SeB gene in any of examined isolates. It is obvious that RTE meat product sandwiches may pose a risk to consumer’s health and encourage the authorities to exert more control over street vendors and fast food restaurants.