Journal de la transformation et de la technologie des aliments

Abstrait

Microbiological Safety of Strawberries and Lettuce for Domestic Consumption in Egypt

Mieke Uyttendaele, Ahmed Abdel Moneim, Siele Ceuppens and Fouad El Tahan

Food borne outbreaks with fresh produce are increasingly being reported in developed countries. Food borne illness is an important threat for human health also in developing countries, but data on food safety, in particular related to microbial food safety in fruits and vegetables, the developing world are scarce. In the present study, the sanitary quality and safety of Egyptian lettuce and strawberries, obtained from either primary production or domestic retail market, was assessed by enumeration of faecal indicators organism Escherichia coli and coliforms and the detection of Salmonella spp. Twelve farms in three different regions of Egypt were visited and apart from strawberries (18) and lettuce (18) also samples of soil (12) and irrigation water (12) were obtained. Furthermore, three different types of domestic retail outlets, i.e. open markets, shops and hypermarkets were sampled for strawberries (30) and lettuce (30). Salmonella prevalence in Egyptian domestic fresh produce was very high, namely 42% (20/48) in lettuce and 29% (14/48) in strawberries. The presence of Salmonella was associated with elevated levels of E. coli and coliforms. Observations from this restricted data set suggest that the microbiological quality and safety of lettuce and strawberries in the primary production of Egypt is subjected to considerable regional differences, presumably related to differences in irrigation water quality. Moreover, the microbiological quality and safety of retail lettuce and strawberries increased in accordance with the scale and organization level of the retail outlet.