Investigation of the Presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in Bovine Origin Foods

This study was conducted to investigate the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. in 200 bovine origin meat, milk and their products (minced meat, meatball, Ineg？l meatball, sausage, pasteurized milk, Tulum cheese, fresh soft cheese and cecil cheese). Salmonella were isolated from 66 (33%) of 200 samples. While 45 (22.5%) of which were obtained from meat origin samples (16 minced meat, 10 ineg？l meatball, 16 meatball and 3 sausage) and 21 (10.5%) of which was detected in cheese samples (6 tulum and 15 fresh soft cheeses). L. monocytogenes was detected in a total 6 samples (3%); 2 (1%) of the meat (one ground beef and one meatball) and 4 (2%) of the cheese samples (one tulum and 3 fresh soft cheeses). In contrast, Salmonella spp. or L. monocytogenes was not detected in pasteurized milk and sausage samples. The high prevalence of Salmonella spp. and presence of L. monocytogenes in the samples could pose public health risks for consumers. To avoid Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes contamination, hygienic rules of slaughter and meat processing or pasteurizing milk must be rigorously observed