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Page No. : 25-29

ABSTRACT

In the present study, a total of 265 ready-to-eat milk and milk products were collected from 11 tourist places of Himachal Pradesh to examine the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli during May 2010 till April 2011. Four out of 65 (6.15%) samples of burfi, 4 of 54 (7.40%) paneer samples, 1 of 47 (2.12%) ice cream samples, 3 of 31 (9.67%) samples of milk tea and 1 of 14 (7.14%) pasteurized milk samples were found to be positive for E. coli. The 13 E. coli isolates belonged to six different serotypes (O8, O89, O60, O11, O Rough and O untypable). Fifty five per cent of the E. coli isolates were found to be multi drug resistant (MDR) and maximum resistance was observed for ampicillin. All the isolates were highly sensitive to chloramphenicol. However, Salmonella spp. could not be isolated from any of the ready–to-eat milk and milk products. The present study reveals that the contamination of ready-to-eat foods of animal origin i.e. milk and milk products with E. coli could be an important factor of gastrointestinal illness in the consumers.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, E. coli, Himachal Pradesh, ready-to-eat milk and milk products, prevalence, Salmonella, tourist places