R EADY to eat meat was defined as case of meat being ready for immediate consumption.Food diseases of microbial origin are associated with serious health problems due to consumption of ready to eat meat and meat products in many places in the world. Conventional processing methods used in preparation, improper storage / conservation are the main factor contributing to food contamination. One of the common pathogenic bacteria that causes the food-borne diseases is E. coli .Some strains produce toxins that can lead to a major health problem such as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). E. coli O157:H7 is the most common strain of STEC, but there are many other strains of STEC as well. The current study was designed for screening of the ready to eat meat samples for E.coli, 120 Samples of (sausage ,hamburger ,minced beef and fried chicken 30 of each of them ) through culture and biochemical tests and confirmation isolates by PCR. Depending upon culture, staining and biochemical tests E.coli isolates were detected in 12/30 (40%) samples of sausage, 4/30 (13%) of hamburger, 8/30 (27%) of minced beef and 1/30 (3%) of fried chicken with prevalence of all isolates were confirmed in 25/120 ( 20.83% ) .According to PCR on positive isolates 10/12 (83.3%) in sausage , 4/4 (100%) in hamburger, 7/8 (87.5%) in minced beef and 1/1 (100%) in fried chicken. After serological identification isolates positive for both stx2 and eaeA were O26:H11 strain and isolates positive for eaeA only were O119:H6 strain.Aim of the study: screening commercial samples of the ready to eat meat for contamination of (STEC) E. coli which are causing food borne illness.

Meat is considered an excellent source of high quality animal protein, vitamins as B complex and minerals as iron. Therefore a total of 100 fresh and frozen meat samples (beef) were collected from Aswan city supermarkets for evaluation of the presence of contamination with Staphylococcus aureus. The results revealed that the incidence of isolated Staph. aureus from frozen meat samples were 36% and from fresh meat samples were 34% and the Staphylococcal count in examined fresh and frozen meat were2.1x10 3 ±1.05x10 3 and 2.2x10 3 ±0.52x10 3 ; respectively. The results confirmed by using the Polymease Chain Reaction (PCR).

Meat and meat products make an important nutritional contribution to human diet. Beef sausage is one of the most popular fast food in Egypt. Accordingly, a total of 30 beef sausage samples from market stalls and selected fast-food restaurants in Aswan city, were subjected to proximate analysis then compared with the Egyptian standards to determine their acceptability. The methods used for the determination of proximate composition were AOAC Official Methods 990.19,973.48, 960.39, and 999.11 for moisture, protein, fat, and ash, respectively. The results revealed that the mean values of moisture, protein, fat, ash, carbohydrates and red meat were 62.15±0.96%, 14.34±0.49%, 15.63±1.12%, 2.85±0.10%, 5±0.64%, and 45.01±1.99%, respectively. By comparing the results with the Egyptian Organization for Standardization No. 1972, there were 56.67%, 40%, and 90% of the samples unaccepted based on their moisture, protein, and red meat contents, respectively, while all the samples were accepted based on their fat and ash contents. There were significant differences in the moisture, protein, fat, ash, and carbohydrate content of the beef sausage samples. The findings indicated that the nutritional composition of sausage samples varied among different locations where a variation in preparation method was observed.

Meat is an important foodstuff and one of the most expensive components of human nutrition; therefore 30 minced meat samples were collected from Aswan city shops for evaluation of sensory quality parameters. Seven characteristics grades were given to panelists from1. Dislike extremely to 7. Like extremely. Panelists were considered the above points for evaluation of appearance, texture, consistency, odor, and overall acceptance of the meat samples. The results shown that the mean values of appearance, texture, consistency, odor, and overall acceptance were 18.1%±6.84%, 22.4%±8.46%, 19.85%±7.5%, 19.64%±7.42%, and 20.19%±7.63%, respectively. All tested sensory values were non-significant. The findings indicated that the sensory evaluation of minced meat samples varied among different locations where a variation in preparation method was observed as well as the type of meat cut included.

Poultry meat is highly palatable, digestible, desirable and nutritious for all ages in addition to low price in comparison to beef meat. Therefore, a total of 100 Fresh and frozen thigh and breast chicken meat samples were collected from Aswan city supermarkets, abattoirs, butcher's shops for evaluation of the incidence of contamination with Staph. aureus. The results revealed that the incidence of isolated Staph. aureus from frozen chicken thigh, breast, fresh chicken thigh and breast were 40, 36, 32 and 32%; This result at frozen chicken meat more than fresh chicken meat may be due to excess handling of frozen meat and leave to more time at surfaces with un clean utensils before freezing. While Staphylococcal count in the same examined samples were7.55x10 2 , 5.8x102, 4.11x103, 2.53x102; respectively.The results were reversed and therefore modified by confirmation of the results by using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), revealed that fresh chicken thigh samples were positive for sea gene of Staphaureus strains, frozen chicken meat samples were positive for sec gene of Staph-aureus and fresh chicken thigh, frozen chicken breast samples were negative for sea, seb, sed and sea genes of Staph. aureus.