Contamination Levels and Phenotypic and Genomic Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolated from Fresh Salad Vegetables in the United Arab Emirates.

ABSTRACT: Contaminated fresh produce has been identified as a vehicle for human foodborne illness. The present study investigated the counts, antimicrobial resistance profile, and genome-based characterization of Escherichia coli in 11 different types of fresh salad vegetable products (n = 400) sampled from retailers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. E. coli was detected in 30% of the tested fresh salad vegetable items, with 26.5% of the samples having an unsatisfactory level (≥100 CFU/g) of E. coli, notably arugula and spinach. The study also assessed the effect of the variability in sample conditions on E. coli counts and found, based on negative binominal regression analysis, that samples from local produce had a significantly higher (p-

SUBMITTER: Habib I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10304028 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature