The objectives of study were to assess presence of Listeria monocytogenes, perform serotyping and investigate antibiotic resistance in raw milk and dairy products. A total of 210 milk and dairy products including white (n = 20) and kashar cheese (n = 20), ice cream (n = 20), butter (n = 20), cokelek (n = 10), kuymak (n = 10) and farm cheese (n = 10) were obtained from Samsun, Turkey. All samples were analyzed using an immunomagnetic separation-based culture technique and strains of L. monocytogenes were confirmed by presence of hlyA and iap genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). L. monocytogenes was identified in 5 of 100 (5%) milk samples, serotyped as 4b and 1/2b, and in 9 of 110 (8.2%) dairy products, serotyped as 1/2a, 1/2b and 1/2c. However, L. monocytogenes was not identified from butter, kashar and ice cream samples. The antibiotic susceptibility against ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, penicillin G, oxytetracycline, tetracycline and vancomycin was assessed by disc diffusion method. It was found that 15.3% of isolates were resistant to at least one drug and 36.5% were multidrug resistant. Among isolates, resistance to tetracycline was most commonly encountered (34.6%), followed by resistance to chloramphenicol (25%) and penicillin G (23%). In conclusion, our data also indicate that consuming raw and unpasteurised milk and dairy products could pose a risk of listeriosis in humans.

Enterotoxigenic and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in milk and dairy products is an important public health problem. Especially in traditional dairy products, Staphylococcal enterotoxins may cause food poisoning due to consumption of raw or unpasteurized milk products.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most prevalent food-poisoning bacterium associated with seafood consumption. The number of infections is increasing worldwide and is being reported in areas with no previous incidence. This study provides the first instance of the occurrence of V. parahaemolyticus strains with virulence traits in the Black Sea, contributing to gain a better understanding about potential risk associated with this pathogen in the region.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different pretreatment agents such as chitosan (0.5% (w/v), pH 2.9-3.2) and lactic acid (0.5% (v/v), pH 2.5-2.7) on the chemical and sensory qualities of mussels stored at 4ºC. Mussels were dipped in 100 mL of 0.5% solution of lactic acid (v/v) and chitosan (w/v) at room temperature (22ºC) for 15 min. Mussels from the control group were dipped in 100 mL of sterile distiled water (2% NaCl) without chitosan and lactic acid. Treatment of mussels with lactic acid and chitosan at the beginning of the experiment (day 0) for 15 min reduced bacterial counts of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (0.53-1.07 log) psychrotrophic bacteria (0.11-0.13 log), Lactobacillus spp. (0.46-1.30 log), Enterobacteriaceae (0.43-0.48 log) and coliform bacteria (0.52-0.66 log). Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N) and histamine values of control group mussels were increased from (day 0) 13.1 mg N 100 g , 4.86 mg N 100 g -1 and 7.75 ppm at the end of the storage period (day 11), respectively (P<0.05). The results indicated that shelf-life of mussels stored at 4ºC were limited to 4 days in the control group. However, mussels pretreated with lactic acid and chitosan were stored for 6-7 days and the shelf-life of mussels was extended for ca. 2-3 days, as compared with the control group (P<0.05).

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.