Bacteriological Assessment of Some Food Meals Served in Egyptian Hotels

Abstract

Meat and meat products are among the food categories most frequently involved in food-borne diseases. Hence, a total of 120 ready to eat meals (RTE) RTE random meat steak, beef burger, chicken Piccata, and fish Filet (30 of each) were collected to assess their quality. As a hygienic indicator, aerobic bacterial count (APC), Coliforms count (CC) and Staph. aureus were investigated, and the results showed that 1.5×104 ± 3.96×103; 1.76×102 ± 2.9×10 and 8.35×10 ± 1.4×10 for Meat Steak, 3.6×104 ± 1.5×104; 2.72×102 ± 5.8×10 and 1.09×102 ± 2.46×10 for Beef burger, 1.559×104 ± 6.42×103; 2.99×102 ± 6.89×10 and 1.06×102 ± 2.7×10 for Chicken piccata and 5.48×104 ± 2.3×104; 7.3×102 ± 1.42×102 and 2.5×102 ± 6.99×10 for Fish Fillet, respectively. E. coli also was investigated revealing that 26 (21.6%) of the examined samples were unsuitable for human consumption represented by 4(13.3%), 11(36.6%), 3(10%) and 8(26.6%) of the examined meat steak, beef burger, chicken Piccata and fish Filet samples were rejected because they contaminated with E. coli, respectively. According to the findings of the serological identification of the E. coli isolates, the strains of EPEC were the most common, followed by EHEC, ETEC, and EIEC. Therefore, strict hygienic practices must be followed when receiving, preparing, storing, and handling every food item in order to maintain the health of the consumer and provide wholesome meat meals.