Prevalence of Cronobacter spp. in various foodstuffs and identification by multiplex PCR

Cronobacter spp. are opportunistic pathogens isolated from many different type of food and environmental samples and may cause serious health problems and even death in newborns, children and elders. The purpose of the study was to determine occurrence and prevalence of Cronobacter spp. in animal originated food, ready-to-eat food, fruits and vegetables, sold in Istanbul and its vicinity and to perform molecular typing of the isolated agents by multiplex PCR. Analyses were conducted on a total of 219 food samples including 11 confectionary, 50 fruits and vegetables, 52 dairy products, 50 meat and meat products and 56 ready-to-eat food. Suspected isolates were validated by PCR targeted to gyrB gene and multiplex PCR was performed for identification. Overall analyses revealed a prevalence of 5.48% for Cronobacter spp. in all food products assessed. Prevalence of the bacteria was 9%, 1.9% and 17.8% in confectionary, dairy products and ready-to-eat food, respectively whereas no bacteria were detected in fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products. Out of a total of 12 isolates determined, 8 (66%), 3 (25%) and 1 (8%) were identified as C.sakazakii, C.muytjensii and C.malonaticus, respectively and nine isolates belonged to cereal-based balls (meatless cig kofte).