The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Salmonella in retail and wholesale foods in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. A total of 2,021 samples collected between 1999 and 2010 were tested using a culture method. Samples consisted of liquid eggs ( ), meat (beef and pork) ( ), offal ( ), processed meats ( ), seafood ( ), processed seafood (dried fish) ( ), vegetables ( ), processed vegetables ( ), fruits ( ), and herbs ( ) from 574 outlets and wholesale agents in 15 areas (five samples were undocumented regarding outlets). Overall, liquid egg showed significantly ( ) higher frequencies of Salmonella contamination (13.3%) than beef (1/423, 0.2%) and pork (3/235, 1.3%). Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis, the most common serovar as a human pathogen, were isolated from two liquid egg samples. No Salmonella were isolated from seafood and vegetable-related samples including seed sprouts ( ). In conclusion, liquid egg is a significant Salmonella vehicle, showing a need to continue the vaccination of chickens to prevent S. Enteritidis contamination in Japanese eggs. Moreover, further study is needed to evaluate Salmonella contamination in seed sprouts with more sampling from retailers there. 1. Introduction The surveillance of Salmonella in retail and wholesale foods is essential for the prevention of nontyphoidal salmonellosis, which is one of the most important problems for public health in the world [1], including Japan [2]. Salmonella frequently enter the food chain, thereby triggering either sporadic cases or outbreaks of human salmonellosis [1]. Livestock and their products are the most significant foods as vehicles of Salmonella [1, 3]. In other foods, such as vegetables [4] and fish [5], Salmonella can also be present naturally and cause human salmonellosis. Recent data on the prevalence of Salmonella in retail and wholesale foods in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, are unavailable; therefore, surveillance is needed for reasons of public health. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence of Salmonella in retail and wholesale foods in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Sampling Area A total of 2,021 samples were collected from Fukuoka Prefecture between May 1999 and June 2010 (Table 1). These samples consisted of liquid eggs ( ), meat (beef and pork) ( ), offal ( ), processed meats ( ), seafood ( ), processed seafood (dried fish) ( ), vegetables ( ), processed vegetables (shop-prepared salad and pickled vegetable) ( ), fruits ( ), and herbs ( ). The samples were collected from 563 retail outlets and 11
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