| Abstrakt: |
Foodborne pathogens cause serious health problems in every country. That is why controlling the safety of the food chain includes microbiological tests. Molecular methods, mainly polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are considered highly sensitive, specific, and rapid to detect pathogens in raw materials and food. This study describes the use of specially designed and highly specific primers for PCR to detect 5 common and especially dangerous disease and food poisoning agents and to determine their occurrence in food of animal and plant origin. The studies included identifying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Cronobacter spp. (E. sakazakii) found in raw milk, Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from beef and pork carcasses, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens from various types of plant and animal raw materials and products of their processing (fruit, vegetables, berries, dried and preserved products, food concentrates, semi-preserved food). A total of 397 food samples have been investigated to detect these pathogens using classical bacteriological methods and PCR. The prevalence of foodborne pathogens in the studied products of animal and plant origin was as follows: Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Cronobacter spp. (E. sakazakii) in raw cow's milk in 6.5% and 19.4% of cases, respectively; Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from beef and pork carcasses in 8.1% and 5.7%, respectively; Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens from different plant and animal raw materials and their processing products averaged 27.5% and 7.7%, respectively. Molecular genetic methods, which the PCR method belongs to, have such advantages as rapidity and specificity of identifying microorganisms by the features of the genetic regions that carry information about their pathogenic factors. It has been found that by the PCR method, these pathogens are detected at least 5-9 times faster than by the classical methods. These data will be useful to assess the microbiological risk and will help the governmental authorities develop strategies to reduce risks to consumers' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
