Food Contamination with Salmonella Species in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Objectives:

To evaluate contamination with Salmonella of food products from food markets in the Republic of Macedonia by assessment of the most frequently contaminated food products and the most frequently isolated serotypes of Salmonella.

Methods:

This is a retrospective study analyzing data from the national database for microbiological safety of food products for the period from 2003 to 2005 as well as a prospective study for 2006 and 2007. Isolation and identification of Salmonella spp. were performed in the Laboratory for Sanitary Microbiology of the Republic Institute for Health Protection in Skopje, Macedonia. All samples were tested using the horizontal method for detection of Salmonella spp., according to ISO 6579:2002. Two immunological methods were used: Singlepath and VIDAS Salmonella spp. in food.

Results:

Presence of Salmonella spp. was 0.04–0.06% during 2003–2005, 0.63% in 2006, and 0.39% in 2007. During the period 2003 to 2005, Salmonella spp. were most frequently isolated from meat and meat products (75%), followed by milk and dairy products. In 2006 and 2007, the most frequently contaminated food products were mechanically separated chicken meat (71% in 2006 and 75% in 2007). The most frequent serogroups of Salmonella spp. in 2006 were C₁ (47%), followed by B and D (17.6%), and F (11.7%). In 2007, the most frequent serogroups of Salmonella spp. were C₁ (50%), followed by D (20%), E₃ (15%), and B (10%).

Conclusions:

We found an increasing trend in the contamination level of food products with Salmonella spp., especially in 2006 and 2007, in which the most frequently contaminated food products were mechanically separated chicken meat, milk, dairy products, and sweets, and the most frequently isolated serogroup was C₁.