Contamination of ready-to-eat foods sold by street vendors rendering them unacceptable for human consumption and become a global health problem. This study aimed to examine the quality and safety of street vended meat products in kalyobia governorate. Eighty samples of meat products including 20 samples each of beef burger, kofta, sausages and hawawshi were randomly collected from the streetvendors in kalyobia governorate to evaluate their bacteriological quality. The results revealed that the mean values of APC, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform and staphylococcus counts (cfu /g) were 3.97×10 5 , 5.82×10 3 , 6.53×10 2 and 2.76×10 3 for burger , 8.51×10 5 , 7.15×10 3 , 9.25×10 2 and 5.41×10 3 for kofta, 1.33×10 6 , 9.91×10 3 , 4.38×10 3 and 1.23×10 4 for sausage , 6.76×10 6 , 4.07×10 4 , 1.12×10 4 and 6.11×10 4 for hawawshi respectively. Also Staph. aureus were isolated with an incidence of 40% , 45% , 55% and70% (with mean value of 7.54×10 2 , 8.13×10 2 , 1.96×10 3 and 4.28×10 3 cfu/g)from the examined samples of burger, kofta, sausage and hawawshi, respectively. Also the incidences of isolation of E.coli from the same examined samples were 10% ,15%, 25% and 30%, respectively. The obtained results were compared to the published microbiological guidelines for RTE food of center of food safety(2014) to assess their bacteriological quality and It was recommended that this guidelines may be adapted locally(for RTE Egyptian food) until more precise microbial criteria for this food type could be developed through an appropriate scientific process.

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Ninety random samples were collected from different restaurants in Benha city to evaluate their bacteriological quality. The mean values of APC, coliform, staphylococcus counts (cfu /g) were 2.69x 10 5  0.47x10 5 , 5.54x10 3  0.96x10 3 & 2.31 x 10 3  0.49 x 10 3 for beef kofta,7.34x10 4  1.22x10 4 , 1.73x10 3  0.51x10 3 &1.57 x 10 3  0.36x 10 3 for beef burger, 3.16x 10 4  0.60 x 10 4 , 1.01 x 10 3 0.27 x 10 3 & 6.29 x 10 2  1.14x10 2 for beef shawerma, 6.23 x 10 5  1.14x10 5 , 8.52x10 3  2.04x10 3 & 4.64 x 10 3  0.85 x 10 3 for chicken kofta,3.58 x 10 5  0.72 x 10 5 , 2.39 x 10 3  0.61 x 10 3 & 2.73 x 10 3  0.52 x 10 3 for chicken burger and 5.91x10 4  1.08x10 4 , 1.81x10 3  0.35x10 3 & 9.42x10 3  2.23x10 3 for chicken shawerma, respectively. The results declared that 18isolates of E.coli were identified from examined ready to eat meat and poultry meat meals with varying percentages.

In an attempt to determine the prevalence of some chemical hazards in various meat product by measuring the residual levels of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nitrite in such product, a total number of 60 random samples (15 of each) of minced meat, beef burger, sausages and luncheon were haphazardly gathered from a varied supermarkets and retailers in Benha City at Kalubia governorate, Egypt to be chemically analyzed by means of spectrophotometer. From the achieved results, the mean values of residual levels of Pb in the inspected samples of minced meat, beef burger, sausages and luncheon were 0.06 ± 0.01, 0.11 ± 0.01, 0.16 ± 0.01 and 0.23 ± 0.01 mg/kg, respectively, while those of Cd were 0.03 ± 0.01, 0.07 ± 0.01 , 0.12 ± 0.01 , and 0.15 ± 0.01 mg/kg, and finally those of nitrite were not detected, 39.81 ± 2.24, 27.59 ± 1.65 and 62.07 ± 2.51 (ppm), respectively. The obtained findings were complied with the acceptable limits of heavy metals residues and residual nitrite level recommended by Egyptian Standards.

Practical application of suspension with different concentrations (5mM, 8mM, and 10mM) were investigated to evaluate its antibacterial effect in fresh meat. A total number of 12 samples of fresh meat were collected from different abattoirs (150 gm. of each) in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt, under complete aseptic conditions and transferred without undue delay to the Lab to evaluate the efficacy of ZnO NPs as antibacterial agents in fresh meat. The obtained results indicated that ZnO-NPs had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of APC and Staphylococcus aureus during 6 days of refrigerator storage at 4 0C. At zero day, the mean values of APC in the control group was 3.27x107±6.05x106cfu/g, while after treatment with ZnO-NPs 5mM, 8mM and 10mM the mean values were decreased to 1.67x107±9.11x106, 1.55x107±9.73x106, and 9.41x106±7.67x105cfu/g, respectively. By the 3rd day of refrigeration storage the control group showed complete spoilage. While the mean values of Staphylococcus aureus at zero day in control group was 3.09x107±2.33x107cfu/g, while after treatment with ZnO-NPs 5mM, 8mM and 10mM the mean values were highly decreased to 1.40x107±9.56x106, 1.79x106±4.70x105, and 8.05x105±9.51x105cfu/g, respectively. Accurately, ZnO-NPs with concentration 10mM showed the highest reduction percentage 99.5% and 99.85% to APC and Staphylococcal aureus, respectively, from 3.27x107±6.05x106to 1.64x105±2.47x104 and 3.09x107±2.33x107 to 4.61x104±4.44x104 respectively, compared to other concentrations (5mM and 8mM). Thus the best sensory quality was obtained by ZnO-NP 10mM indicating to the fact that the antibacterial activity of ZnO-NPs is concentration dependent. Zinc oxide nanoparticles Antibacterial activity Aerobic plate countStaphylococcus aureus.