BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION AND PREVALENCE OF SOME FOODBORNE PATHOGENS IN EDIBLE BOVINE OFFAL IN ASSIUT CITY

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the bacterial contamination and prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Bacillus cereus in 150 samples of edible bovine by-products which were collected from different retail butcher's shops in Assiut city. The obtained results revealed that the mean values of total viable bacterial count (T.V.B.C.) of Tripe, Mombar (Intestine), Lung and Cerebrum (Brain) were 2x10 5 +0.89, 1x10 5 +0.89, 1x10 5 +0.79 and 8x10 4 +1.06 CFU/g, respectively. Wheras, it was indicated that 90 of the examined samples of edible offal (32 Tripe, 29 Mombar, 16 Lung and 13 Cerebrum) were more than 10 3 (MPN/g) for total coliform count. Concerning Salmonella spp., 4 samples (2.7%) only were positive for Salmonella spp. Isolated serovars were identified as S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium and S. Anatum. Regarding B. cereus, 12 samples (8%) were positive, which included 5 samples of Tripe, 4 samples of Mombar and 3 samples of Cerebrum, while Lung samples were free. The average count of B. cereus in positive samples was 1.6x10 3 CFU/g, where average number in Tripe, Mombar and Cerebrum were 3x10 3 , 1.4x10 3 and 5x10 2 CFU/g, respectively. The achieved results indicated that consumption of edible bovine by-products such as Tripe, Mombar, Lung and Cerebrum constitute a public health hazard as they may be associated with food poisoning microorganisms such as S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis.