A note on Escherichia coli O157:H7 serotype in Turkish meat products

255 minced beef, 101 soudjouk and 50 uncooked hamburger samples were analyzed for the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 serotype. m-EC and LST broths were used as selective enrichment media and SMAC agar was used as a selective isolation medium. A total of 3 E. coli O157 were isolated by conventional culture techniques; one from each of minced beef, uncooked hamburger and soudjouk but none were identified as the H7 serotype. For determination of selective media-growing cohabitant bacteria, 2645 isolates were obtained from SMAC agar. Results showed that E. coli type 1, Hafnia alvei and Citrobacter freundii were dominant competitive flora. As selective enrichment broth-growing cohabitant microflora existed at higher levels, it was too difficult to isolate E. coli O157 from these mixed flora. Therefore, conventional methods are not suitable for these types of products, because of isolation difficulties and failure to confirm.