Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in raw and cooked foods in Isfahan-Iran

Abstract

A total of 645 samples of raw and cooked foods were examined for the presence of Salmonella spp. Salmonella was detected in 43 (6.66%) of the samples. Salmonella was isolated from 24/134 (17.91%) of raw poultry, 3/56 (5.35%) of cooked poultry, 8/101 (7.92%) of raw meat, 2/118 (1.69%) of cooked meat, 1/3 (33.3%) of turkey, 2/5 (40.00%) of quail and 3/38 (7.89%) of vegetables. All samples taken from fish, yogurt, ready-to-eat olovieh salad, hamburger, mayonnaise souse and smallgoods were free of Salmonella. Of the 31 strains of Salmonella, 11 different serotypes were separated; among them S. enteritidis (29%) and S. baibouknown (29%) were the most frequent in raw foods. Furthermore, a high proportion of poultry was contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella spp. were present in a small proportion of cooked foods, that is, they were not killed during the cooking process, or the contamination might have occurred after thermal treatment. These findings have a clear implication for public health, indicating the needs for improvement of hygienic condition in food processing centers. © 2008, The Author(s).