Microbial Profile of Some Ready to Eat Meat Products Retailed for Sale in Al Beida City, Libya

A total of 75 random samples of ready to eat (RTE) meat products including; Luncheon, Frankfurter and Hot dog (25 samples / each) were collected from different supermarkets and groceries for microbiological evalaution. Statistical analytical results of Aerobic plate count (APC) clarified that the highest mean value was recorded in samples of hot dog (4.1×105 cfu/g) followed by luncheon (1.4×105 cfu/g) then Frankfurter (1.1×105 cfu/g). Concerning Enterobacteriaceae count (EC), the highest mean value was recorded in samples of hot dog (6.8×104 cfu/g) followed by Frankfurter (6.7×104 cfu/g) then luncheon (2.1×104 cfu/g) while the highest mean value of coliforms count was recorded in samples of Frankfurter (4.8×104 cfu/g) followed by hot dog (4.7×104 cfu/g) then luncheon (1.4×104 cfu/g). On the other side, the prevalence of E.coli was 40, 32 and 16% in the examined samples of Luncheon, Frankfurter and Hot dog, respectively and serotyping of Enteropathogenic E.coli isolated samples revealed the presence of O17: H18 (EPEC), O26: H11 (EHEC), O55: H7 (EPEC), O91: H21 (EHEC) and O113: H2 (EPEC) with different rates. Finally, the prevalence of Salmonellae was 16, 12 and 8% in the examined samples of Luncheon, Frankfurter and Hot dog, respectively and serotyping of isolated Salmonellae revealed the presence of S. Enteritidis, S. Virchow and S. Heidberg with different rates.