The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in 122 samples, including 60 raw milk, 32 white cheese, 10 kashar cheese, 10 butter, and 10 ice cream samples obtained from Samsun province, Turkey. In this study, S. aureus was detected in 64 samples, including raw milk (45/60; 75%), white cheese (12/32; 37.5%), kashar cheese (3/10; 30%), butter (3/10; 30%), and ice cream (1/10; 10%) samples. A total of 81 isolates were identified as S. aureus by PCR with the presence of 16S rRNA and nuc genes. The presence of genes encoding the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) SEA, SEB, SEC, and SED was detected by multiplex PCR. According to the analysis, seven isolates from the raw milk samples (7/51; 13.7%) were enterotoxigenic; five of them produced SEA (5/7; 71.4%), one produced SEB (1/7; 14.2%), and one produced SEA+SEB (1/7; 14.2%). Four isolates from the white cheese samples (4/21; 19%) produced the SEA (1/4; 25%), SEC (1/4; 25%), SED (1/4; 25%), and SEA+SED (1/4; 25%) toxins. Two isolates from the kashar cheese samples (2/4; 50%) were found to be enterotoxigenic; one produced SEA (1/2; 50%) and the other produced SED (1/2; 50%). One isolate from the butter samples (1/4; 25%) showed enterotoxigenic character (SEB, 1/1; 100%). The products were found to be potentially hazardous to public health because of the fact that levels of contamination were higher than 105-106 cfu/g ml in 39% (25/64, 17 raw milk, 7 white cheese, and 1 butter) of the analyzed samples.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of enterotoxigenic and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in ice creams. After culture-based identification of isolates, the presence of 16S rRNA and nuc was confirmed by mPCR. S. aureus was identified in 18 of 56 fruity (32.1%), 4 of 32 vanilla (12.5%), and 1 of 12 chocolate (8.3%) ice creams. S. aureus was identified as 38 isolates in 23 ice cream samples by culture-based techniques, but only 35 isolates were confirmed by PCR as S. aureus. To determine the enterotoxigenic properties of PCR-confirmed S. aureus isolates, a toxin detection kit was used (SET RPLA®). Of the 12 enterotoxigenic S. aureus isolates, 9 SEB (75%), 1 SED (8.3%), 1 SEB+SED (8.3%), and 1 SEA+SEB+SED (8.3%) expressing isolates were found. The presence of enterotoxin genes (sea, seb, sed) was identified in 13 (37.1%) out of 35 isolates by the mPCR technique. In the ice cream isolates, the sea, seb, and sed genes were detected: 1 sea (7.6%), 9 seb (69.2%), 1 sed (7.6%), 1 seb+sed (7.6%), and 1 sea+seb+sed (7.6%), respectively. The sec gene was not detected in any of these isolates. One of the 35 (2.8%) S. aureus strain was mecA positive.

IntroductionListeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive foodborne pathogen that causes listeriosis, leading to septicemia, encephalitis, meningitis, and gastroenteritis, particularly in pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and immunosuppressed individuals (1).L. monocytogenes is widely distributed in nature. The organism is commonly found in silage, soil, sewage, fertilizer, vegetable matter, and many foods including cabbage, coleslaw, raw milk and dairy products, meat, poultry, and their products (2). The other important source of L. monocytogenes infection is consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods such as cooked meats, desserts, sandwiches, cheese from either raw or pasteurized milk, and fish products. These foods are not cooked or reheated before serving. Therefore L. monocytogenes can survive and grow under refrigerated conditions in packaged RTE foods (3,4). Several outbreaks of listeriosis in the United States in 1998-2008 as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were associated with the consumption of RTE foods. It was reported that 359 people were affected in 24 confirmed listeriosis outbreaks, resulting in 215 hospitalizations and 38 deaths (5).There is little information on the prevalence and contamination levels of L. monocytogenes in RTE foods in Turkey. RTE foods such as Turkish-style tomato dip/ condiment (ezme), stuffed mussels, fried spiced liver, and mayonnaise-based salads are frequently consumed in Turkey. Ingredients and preparation methods of these RTE foods are summarized in Table 1.Conventional bacteriological methods used for the identification of L. monocytogenes are not always reliable and are often time-consuming and laborious. Thus, more reliable, rapid, and cost-effective molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods have been developed for the detection of these pathogens in food (6). The hly gene encoding hemolysin listeriolysin O (LLO), a pore-forming exotoxin with hemolytic activity, is an important virulence factor for the specific detection of L. monocytogenes (7).The increased use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes in animals and humans has led to the development of antibiotic resistance, an important public health concern (8). Studies have shown the existence of L. monocytogenes strains that are resistant to one or more antibiotics such as nalidixic acid, oxacillin, tetracycline, gentamicin,

This study was conducted to investigate the presence of Bacillus cereus in ice cream samples and to identify associated toxin genes by mPCR. 125 ice cream samples were used as material. A total of 38 samples were found to be positive for B. cereus. It was found that 31.9% of the isolates had three enterotoxic HBL complex encoding genes, 10.6% had two hbl genes and 6.3% contained one hbl gene. On the other hand, 15.9% of the isolates contained three NHE complex encoding genes, 31.9% had two nhe genes and 20.2% contained one nhe gene. Also 7.4% of isolates were found to contain both NHE and HBL complexes while ctyK1 was not detected from any isolate. The presence of B. cereus and their enterotoxigenic genes in ice creams may be a potential risk for public health. Practical applications The presence of the B.cereus in high numbers and the toxins in foods pose a potential risk in terms of health and food spoilage. In food poisoning cases, hbl, nhe, cytK, and the effect of emetic toxin are especially notable. The resistance of spores against pasteurization and psychrotolerant feature enable the explanation of the existence of B. cereus in ice‐cream.

This study was aimed to investigate the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in raw water buffalo milk and milk products, besides determining its serotype and the extent of its resistance against various antibiotics. A total of 188 samples of raw water buffalo milk and milk products were collected from Samsun Province, Turkey between November 2012 and May 2013. The classical culture technique was used to isolate and identify L. monocytogenes, as described in EN ISO 11290‐1. The isolates were confirmed as L. monocytogenes by using PCR with (hylA) primers specific for the hemolysin gene. The antimicrobial susceptibility test was achieved by using the VITEK 2 compact system and VITEK 2 AST‐P640 card. L. monocytogenes was found in 7 (3.7%) of the 188 samples. Four of them were obtained from cheese and three from milk samples. Whereas, L. monocytogenes was not detected in any of the clotted cream samples. A total of 13 isolates were confirmed by PCR as L. monocytogenes. Among these isolates, one was 1/2c (or 3c) (7.6%), three were 4b (or 4d, 4e) (23%), four were 1/2b (or 3b) (30.7%), and the other five isolates were serotype 1/2a (or 3a) (38.4%). The highest antimicrobial resistance was recorded against fosfomycine (100%) followed by oxacillin (92%), penicillin (84%), and erythromycin (69%). However, no resistance was determined against ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tigecycline. Practical Application This study showed that some samples of raw buffalo milk and the milk products were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The serotype with the highest prevalence was determined as L. monocytogenes 1/2a. This study also demonstrated that most of the L. monocytogenes isolates had developed multiresistance to many frequently used medical antimicrobial agents.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Clostridium botulinum in honey samples using conventional methods and multiplex PCR (mPCR). A total number of 150 honey samples were randomly collected from apiaries, retail shops, weekly open bazaars, and supermarkets in Samsun, Turkey. Of 150 honey samples, 4 (2.6%) were positive for the botulinum neurotoxin gene by mPCR analysis. A total of 4 C. botulinum isolates were obtained from the mPCR positive samples, of which 3 were type A and 1 was type B. No samples were positive regarding the type E and type F neurotoxin genes. This is the first report of type A and type B spores of C. botulinum being detected and isolated in Turkey. This study revealed that some honey samples may present a potential hazard for food borne and infant botulism.

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In this study, 240 organic chicken pieces (80 thighs, 80 wings, 80 skinless-breast meat) were analyzed for the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Within the framework of the analysis findings; L. monocytogenes was detected in 60 (25%) of all 240 collected samples. In particular, L. monocytogenes was detected in 24 (30%) of 80 thigh samples, 20 (25%) of 80 wing samples and 16 (20%) of 80 skinless-breast meat samples. Serotyping distribution of 96 L. monocytogenes isolates determined as 71.8% serotype 1/2a, 21.9% serotype 1/2b, 4.2% serotype 4b and 2.1% serotype 1/2c. According to antibiotic resistance profile, 26 isolates (27%) were found to be resistant to ampicillin. The other isolates were found to be resistant to meropenem, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, penicillin G, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, vancomycin, oxytetracycline, erythromycin and chloramphenicol as 23 (23.9%), 14 (14.5%), 13 (13.5%), 12 (12.5%), 9 (9.3%), 7 (7.2%), 5 (5.2%), 4 (4.1%) and 3 (3.1%) respectively. Multiple antibiotic resistance profiles were determined in 12 of L. monocytogenes isolates. The findings of this study are thought to be unique data for serotyping studies that will help in revealing the epidemiology of L. monocytogenes in organic poultry meat, enterprises operating in food sector and diagnosis and treatment of listeriosis.