Enteropathogenic bacteria and enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus isolated from ready-to-eat foods in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

The objective of this study was to investigate the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat food in the Municipality of Khon Kaen, Thailand. Four categories of 186 food samples were collected: (1) high heat food; (2) low heat food; (3) no heat food; and, 4) on-site prepared fruit juices and beverages. Of the food samples, 145 (78%) failed to meet acceptable microbiological standards, including fruit juice and beverages (100%), no heat food (91.7%), low heat food (81.7%) and high heat food (57.9%). The most frequent bacterial indexes indicating unacceptability were the most probable number (MPN) of coliforms (78%), the bacterial colony count (58%), and the MPN of E. coli (46%). Pathogenic bacteria were found in 6.5% of food samples. Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae non O1 and Aeromonas hydrophila were found in 4.3, 1.6 and 0.5% of the total food samples, respectively. The serovars of Salmonella found in food were S. Derby, S. Give, S. Krefield, S. Paratyphi B, S. Verchow, S. Lexington and S. Senftenberg. Staphylococcus aureus concentrations of >10(2) CFU/g and >10(5) CFU/g were found in 10.8% and 1.1% of the food samples. Enterotoxin types AB and A of S. aureus were found in 2.7% of the food samples. These results indicate that more than half of the ready-to-eat foods tested in Khon Kaen municipality did not meet microbiological national standards and many kinds of enteropathogenic bacteria were found, suggesting food stalls may be a source of foodborne disease.