Table 1.
Characteristics of staphylococcal contamination on each RTE food category.
| Food categories | No. of samples | Staphylococcal contamination rate % (no. of samples) | Rate of samples containing 2 or more isolates % (no. of samples) | Percentage of samples containing 3 or more species % (no. of samples) | Top 3 CoNS species (prevalence) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal-based products | 492 | 42.5 (209) | 16.1 (79) | 3.7 (18) |
S. saprophyticus (25.4%) S. sciuri (9.6%) S. xylosus (7.9%) |
| Fresh-cut fruits/vegetables | 127 | 62.2 (79) | 31.5 (40) | 15.7 (20) |
S. warneri (29.9%) S. epidermidis (21.3%) S. saprophyticus (15.0%) |
| Ice desserts | 187 | 38.0 (71) | 12.3 (23) | 3.2 (6) |
S. warneri (21.4%) S. epidermidus (9.1%) S. saprophyticus (8.6%) |
| Rice products | 183 | 45.9 (84) | 21.3 (39) | 8.7 (16) |
S. saprophyticus (20.2%) S. warneri (12.0%) S. epidermidis (11.5%) |
| Low water activity foods | 139 | 10.8 (15) | 2.9 (4) | 0.7 (1) |
S. epidermidis (4.3%) S. saprophyticus (3.6%) S. captis (2.2%) |
| Total | 1128 | 40.6 (458) | 16.4 (185) | 5.4 (61) |
S. saprophyticus (17.9%) S. warneri (10.0%) S. epidermidis (8.1%) |