Comparative prevalence of pathogenic and spoilage microbes in chicken sausages from Egypt and Greece.docVIP

Vol.5, No.2, 274-284 (2013) Health /10.4236/health.2013.52037 Comparative prevalence of pathogenic and spoilage microbes in chicken sausages from Egypt and Greece Samir Mahgoub , Mahmoud Sitohy 1,2* 3 1 * 2 Microbiology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt; Corresponding Author: mahgoubsamir@ Laboratory of Microbiology and Biotechnology of Foods, Department of Food Science and Technology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece Biochemistry Departments, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt 3 Received 17 November 2012; revised 18 December 2012; accepted 25 December 2012 ABSTRACT cial in ensuring a safe quality end-product. The European Commission regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs [1] provides a risk-based approach to ensure food hygiene through the implementation of HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) procedures. The described measures represent the prerequisite conditions required in food manufacturing facilities [2,3]. Risk management programs including HACCP system is not yet applied in most food processing units and many kinds of traditional foods are still manufactured under somewhat modestly controlled environments especially in the developing countries including Egypt. Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that can annually cause 2500 cases of meningitis encephalitis, sepsis, fetal death, abortions and about 500 deaths in the United States [4]. Between 1994 and 2002, an enormous amount of chicken and turkey products were recalled because of possible L. monocytogenes contamination in United State [5]. Relatively high prevalence of L. mono- cytogenes in contaminated poultry products has been also reported in Belgium [6], Norway [7] and Northern Ire- land [8]. Additionally, a number of poultry products and commercially manufactured foods associated wit