International Journal of Food Microbiology 80 (2003) 241 250 www.elsevier.

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Microbiological quality of 18 jC ready-to-eat food products sold in Taiwan

Tony J. Fang a,*, Que-King Wei b, Chia-Wei Liao a, Min-Ju Hung a, Tzu-Hui Wang a
a

Department of Food Science, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuokuang Road, Taichung 40227, Taiwan, ROC b Chung Hwa Institute of Technology, Tainan, Taiwan, ROC Received 18 October 2001; received in revised form 11 January 2002; accepted 15 April 2002

Abstract A total of 164 samples of 18 jC ready-to-eat (RTE) food products, purchased in 1999 2000 from convenience stores and supermarkets in central Taiwan, were examined to determine the microbiological quality of these products. The 18 jC RTE food products, manufactured by 16 factories, were divided into groups based on the type of food and their major ingredients. Aerobic plate count, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp. were evaluated. The incidence of E. coli and coliforms in these 18 jC RTE food products was 7.9% and 75.0%, respectively, while 49.8% and 17.9% of the samples were found to contain B. cereus and S. aureus, respectively. Among the samples tested, 1.3% of the food products contained more than 105 CFU g1 of B. cereus and 0.7% contained more than 105 CFU g1 of S. aureus. The pH values of the samples were all below 7.0, except for cold noodles, which had pH values ranging from 5.18 to 8.20. Among the five types of 18 jC food products tested, the highest incidence of E. coli (16%) and Pseudomonas spp. (64.0%) were detected in hand-rolled sushi in a cone shape. On the other hand, the highest incidence rate of coliforms, B. cereus, and S. aureus were found in sandwiches (88%), cold noodles (66.7%) and rice balls rolled in seaweed (25.0%), respectively. Food products made of ham contained the highest incidence of coliforms (88.0%) and E. coli (16.0%), while food products containing meat and ham as the major ingredients had the highest incidence rates of B. cereus (62.5%) and S. aureus (26.1%), respectively. For coliforms, E. coli, B. cereus and S. aureus, the percentage of 18 jC RTE food products exceeding the microbiological standards for RTE food accepted by Republic of China was 75.0%, 7.9%, 49.8% and 17.9%, respectively. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: 18 jC foods; Microbiological quality; Ready-to-eat (RTE)

1. Introduction In Taiwan, Republic of China, there has been a marked increase in the sales of so-called 18 jC
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-4-2286-1505; fax: +886-42287-6211. E-mail addresses: tjfang@nchu.edu.tw, tonyjfang@yahoo.com.tw (T.J. Fang).

ready-to-eat (RTE) food products in recent years. The concept of 18 jC RTE food products was originally developed in Japan and adopted by the food industry in Taiwan. In the production of such food products, emphasis is placed on controlling the processing conditions. For example, in the case of 18 jC box meals, the critical control points include controlling cooking time and temperature. In addition, after the box meals are packaged, they are vacuum

0168-1605/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 1 6 0 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 7 2 - 1

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cooled to 18F2 jC within 5 min. By this rapid cooling method, the growth of contaminating microorganisms is retarded. In general, the shelf life of 18 jC RTE food products is about 20 h when they are placed in stores and actually kept at 18 jC. Rice balls rolled in seaweed, sandwiches, sushi and cold noodles are the most common 18 jC RTE food products sold in convenience stores in Taiwan (Fang, 2000). Although the 18 jC RTE food products have become more popular in recent years, the microbial quality of these products needs to be taken into consideration since they are processed and held before consumption at 18 jC, which is a temperature in which most microorganisms grow well. The RTE food products provide a source of readily available and nutritious meals for the consumer. However, questions have been raised about the safety and microbiological quality of these food products. Mosupye and Von Holy (1999) investigated the microbiological quality of RTE street-vended food products in Johannesburg, South Africa. In that study, 51 samples were taken for determination of the microbiological quality; Bacillus cereus was detected in 22%, Clostridium perfringens in 16%, Salmonella spp. in 2% and Escherichia coli (non-O157:H+) in 2% of the 51 food samples. Chiou et al. (1996) examined the microbial quality of 300 RTE food products sold in southern Taiwan, which were kept hot. Their results indicated that the percentage of food products not meeting the microbiological standards accepted by the Republic of China regarding aerobic plate count, coliform and E. coli were 17.7%, 20.3% and 8.0%, respectively. Since outbreaks of illness in human beings are understood to be caused by consumption of contaminated vegetables, several reports have been published that describe the bacterial contamination of RTE vegetables. For example, Kaneko et al. (1999) collected 196 samples from two food factories located in the suburbs of Tokyo to examine the bacterial contamination of RTE vegetables in the various processing steps including trimming, washing, slicing, soaking, dehydrating, blending and packaging. High aerobic plate counts were found in most samples even after preparation. B. cereus was detected at rates of 10.5% and 20% before and after preparation, respectively. In their investigation, Listeria monocytogenes was not found in the samples (Kaneko et al., 1999).

However, Garca-Gimeno et al. (1996) reported that, out of a total of 70 ready-to-use mixed vegetable salad samples, 21 (30%) were observed to contain L. monocytogenes. In Taiwan, few outbreaks of foodborne diseases caused by L. monocytogenes have been reported. According to epidemiological data, in the period between 1986 and 1995, bacterial pathogens were reported to be the major causes of foodborne disease outbreaks in Taiwan (555 out of the 852 outbreaks, 65%). The three most commonly involved bacteria were, Vibrio parahaemolyticus (197 of the 555 outbreaks, 35%), Staphylococcus aureus (169 of the 555 outbreaks, 30%) and B. cereus (104 of the 555 outbreaks, 18%) (Pan et al., 1997). Although there is a growing demand for 18 jC RTE food products, no information is available regarding the microbiological quality of these products in Taiwan. The present study was hence undertaken to determine the microbiological quality of a variety of 18 jC RTE food products retailed in central Taiwan. Since this was the first investigation of 18 jC RTE food products in this country, these results provide basic information about the microbiological quality of these products.

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Samples A total of 164 samples were obtained for bacteriological examination. Various types of 18 jC RTE food products were obtained from convenience stores and supermarkets in central Taiwan periodically from September 1999 through May 2000. Among the 164 samples, there were 25 samples of hand-rolled sushi in cone shape, 50 samples of sandwich, 15 samples of cold noodles with entree, 52 samples of seaweed rolled rice ball and 22 samples of sushi. The 164 samples, which were manufactured by 16 factories, were also grouped on the basis of their major components, i.e., 25 samples were mainly composed of ham, 50 samples were mainly made of seafood, 44 samples were mainly made of meat, while 45 samples were mainly composed of vegetables. All the samples were transported to the laboratory at low temperature (<7 jC) and stored at 4 jC, until testing. They were analyzed within 24 h of sampling. Before analysis,

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25 g of each sample was homogenized for 2 min with 225 ml of 0.1% sterile peptone water using a Stomacher (model 400, Seward Medical, London, UK). Serial dilutions were performed as required. The pH of the food samples was measured using a digital pH meter (Hanna 8417, Italy) in a 1:10 (w/v) mixture of the homogenate in distilled water. 2.2. Microbiological analyses

spp. based on manufacturers procedures. A spiral plater (Spiral system, Model DU2, Cincinnati, OH) was used to enumerate the isolates from 18 jC RTE food samples (Fang et al., 1997b). All plates were incubated under aerobic conditions. Duplicate agar plates of between 30 and 300 colonies were counted, and mean counts were calculated.

3. Results The total aerobic bacteria were enumerated by using Plate Count Agar (PCA, Difco, Detroit, MI, USA) and incubating the plates at 37 jC for 48 h. ChromocultR coliform agar plate (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) were used for the enumeration of E. coli and coliforms. For S. aureus enumeration, serial dilutions of vegetarian food homogenates were plated on Baird Parker Agar (Oxoid, Hampshire, England) with egg yolk emulsion (50 ml l1) and K2TeO3 solution (10 ml l1), and incubated at 37 jC for 48 h. Typical colonies were confirmed by using a Staphaurex rapid test kit (Welcome Diagnostics, England) (Fang et al., 1999). The number of B. cereus was determined by using the surface plating technique on B. cereus agar base (Oxoid) as described by Vanderzant and Splittstoesser (1992). Typical B. cereus colonies were counted, transferred to nutrient agar slants, and further confirmed by microscopic and biochemical characterizations using API 50 CHB identification kit (API laboratory products, Basingstoken Hants, England). Pseudomonas agar F (Oxoid) plates were used for the enumeration of Pseudomonas The microbial analyses of 18 jC RTE food samples are presented in Table 1. Regarding the distribution of microbial populations, 59.8% of the samples were found to have an aerobic plate count of >105 CFU g1. The largest population distribution for coliforms was found in the range of 104 to <105 CFU g1, while E. coli was detected in 7.9% of the 18 jC RTE food samples, with the largest population distribution in the range of 102 to <103 CFU g1. Among the 164 18 jC RTE food samples, 25.0% of them did not contain coliforms; in contrast, 92.1% of the samples were free of E. coli (Table 1). The detection rates for B. cereus, S. aureus and psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp. were 49.8%, 17.9% and 42.7%, respectively. Among the food samples tested, 1.3% and 0.7% contained >105 CFU g1 of B. cereus and S. aureus, respectively (Table 1). In the present study, five types of 18 jC RTE food samples, including hand-rolled sushi in cone shape, sandwiches, cold noodles, seaweed rolled rice balls and sushi, were tested. The pH values and detection

Table 1 Microbial evaluation and distribution of 18 jC ready-to-eat food productsa Microorganisms Percentage of samples in the following range (%) NDb Aerobic plate count Coliform E. coli B. cereus S. aureus Pseudomonas spp.
a b c d

10 to <102c 0.0 1.1 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

102 to <103 0.0 9.2 4.3 19.4 10.3 9.8

103 to <104 11.6 23.8 1.8 19.4 4.8 17.7

104 to <105 23.8 24.4 0.6 9.7 2.1 12.8

z105 59.8 16.5 0.0 1.3 0.7 2.4

Incidence (%)d 95.2 75.0 7.9 49.8 17.9 42.7

4.8 25.0 92.1 50.2 82.1 57.3

164 samples were tested. ND, not detected. CFU/g. Incidence (%) indicates the percentage of positive samples for a given microorganism.

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range of aerobic plant count, coliform, E. coli, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. in the tested samples are shown in Table 2. The pH values of all samples were below 7.0, except for the cold noodles, which had pH values that ranged from 5.18 to 8.20, depending on the amount of sodium bicarbonate added to the noodle (Table 2). A higher percentage of coliforms was detected in sandwiches (88.0%) and hand-rolled sushi in cone shape (84.0%), as compared to sushi (68.2%), seaweed rolled rice balls (65.4%) and the cold noodle (60.0%). Although hand-rolled sushi in cone shape and sandwiches showed a higher incidence of E. coli, i.e., 16.0% and 10.0%, respectively, as compared to the rest of the three types of 18 jC RTE food samples, seaweed rolled rice balls had the highest level of contamination with E. coli (5.15 log CFU g1), among the five types of samples tested in this investigation. B. cereus was present in 66.7% of cold noodles, with the highest levels of the pathogen being found in seaweed rolled rice balls (5.51 log CFU g1). S. aureus was found in 25.0% of seaweed rolled rice balls (2.30 to 5.00 log CFU g1) as compared to 11.9% in sandwiches (2.30 to 5.07 log CFU g1). The highest percentage of contamination with psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp. was found in hand-rolled sushi in a cone shape (64.0%), followed by sandwiches (58.0%)(Table 2). The percentage of various types of 18 jC RTE foods not meeting the microbiological standard accepted by the Republic of China Government is shown in Fig. 1.

Many of the food samples exceeded the microbiological standards accepted by this country for coliforms, with sandwiches showing the highest rate (88.0%) of noncompliance with standards. On the other hand, the percentage of noncompliance with standards for E. coli was much lower, as compared to the coliforms, with the hand-rolled sushi in a cone shape showing the highest rate of noncompliance (16.0%), followed by sandwiches (10.0%). The foods with the highest percentages that failed to meet the standards for B. cereus and S. aureus were cold noodles (66.7%) and seaweed rolled rice balls (25.0%), respectively (Fig. 1). The samples were also divided into four groups based on the major components, i.e., ham, seafood, meat and vegetable groups. The detection range for aerobic plant counts, coliforms, E. coli, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. in these four groups are given in Table 3. The highest percentage of coliforms was observed in ham (88.0%) and seafood (80.0%) as the major component of the 18 jC foods when compared to the RTE foods made up of meats (72.7%) and vegetables (62.2%) (Table 3). Although 18 jC foods made up of ham showed the highest incidence rates of E. coli (16%), samples composed of seafood contained the highest levels of E. coli (5.15 log CFU g1). B. cereus was present in 62.5% of meat samples, but the highest levels of this pathogen were observed in seafood (5.59 log CFU g1). S. aureus was found in 26.1% of the ham samples (2.60 to 4.58

Table 2 pH values and detection range of aerobic plant count, coliform, E. coli, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. in various types of 18 jC RTE food products Types of products No. of samples pH Range of microbial count (log CFU/g) APC 4.35 6.05 4.34 6.72 5.18 8.20 4.49 6.50 4.51 6.11 3.30 9.45 (96.0)a 3.60 8.64 (94.0) 3.00 8.65 (86.7) 3.30 8.60 (98.1) 2.30 8.16 (95.5) Coliform 2.60 7.18 (84.0) 2.90 9.60 (88.0) 2.30 5.45 (60.0) 2.30 6.11 (65.4) 2.30 7.55 (68.2) E. coli 2.30 2.90 (16.0) 2.30 4.00 (10.0) 0.00 2.30 (6.7) 2.97 5.15 (3.9) 3.26 3.45 (4.6) B. cereus 2.30 3.78 (41.7) 2.30 4.95 (53.3) 2.30 4.33 (66.7) 2.30 5.51 (56.0) 2.30 3.51 (18.2) S. aureus 3.60 4.58 (18.2) 2.30 5.07 (11.9) 2.60 3.30 (14.3) 2.30 5.00 (25.0) 2.30 4.26 (13.6) Pseudomonas spp. 2.30 6.26 (64.0) 2.30 6.07 (58.0) 3.30 4.30 (20.0) 2.30 4.30 (30.8) 2.78 4.30 (22.7)

Hand-rolled sushi in cone shape Sandwich Cold noodles Rice balls rolled in seaweed Sushi
a

25 50 15 52 22

Numbers in parentheses indicate percentage of positive samples.

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Fig. 1. Percentage of various types of 18 jC RTE food products that did not comply with the microbiological standards imposed by the Chinese Government regarding aerobic plate count (APC), coliforms, E. coli (EC), B. cereus (BC) and S. aureus (SA). The 18 jC RTE food products are divided into five groups: hand-rolled sushi in cone shape ( ); sandwiches ( ); cold noodles (5); rice balls rolled in seaweed ( ); and sushi ( ). The microbiological standards for ready-to-eat foods are as follows: coliforms, less than 10 MPN/g; E. coli and S. aureus, not detectable; B. cereus, less than 100 CFU/g.

log CFU g1), as compared to 13.6% of samples containing vegetables as their major component, which contained the highest levels of this pathogen (5.07 log CFU g1). The highest percentage of contamination with psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp. was found in products made up of ham and seafood (both were 48.0%), followed by meat (43.2%) and vegetables (33.3%) as the major components (Table 3). The percentages of 18 jC RTE foods made of

various major components, which were not compliant with microbiological standards accepted by Taiwan, is shown in Fig. 2. A high portion of the food samples exceeded the microbiological standards accepted by this country for coliforms; products made of ham had the highest rate (88.0%) of noncompliance with standards. On the other hand, the percentage of noncompliance with standards for E. coli was much lower as compared to coliforms, with ham products showing

Table 3 Detection range of aerobic plant count, coliform, E. coli, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. in 18 jC RTE food products made from various major raw materials Major ingredients of the RTE products Ham Seafood Meat Vegetable
a

No. of samples 25 50 44 45

Range of microbial count (log CFU/g) APC 3.78 9.45 (96.0)a 3.30 7.30 (98.0) 3.30 8.65 (93.2) 3.30 8.64 (93.3) Coliform 2.90 9.60 (88.0) 2.30 6.11 (80.0) 2.30 6.38 (72.7) 2.30 7.55 (62.2) E. coli 2.30 3.88 (16.0) 2.30 5.15 (6.0) 2.30 2.60 (4.5) 2.30 3.60 (4.4) B. cereus 2.30 4.36 (41.7) 2.30 5.59 (46.8) 2.30 4.80 (62.5) 2.30 4.95 (42.2) S. aureus 2.60 4.58 (26.1) 2.30 5.00 (21.4) 2.30 3.60 (15.4) 2.60 5.07 (13.6) Pseudomonas spp. 3.30 5.14 (48.0) 2.30 4.88 (48.0) 2.30 6.26 (43.2) 2.30 5.32 (33.3)

Numbers in parentheses indicate percentage of positive samples.

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Fig. 2. Percentage of aerobic plate count (APC), coliforms, E. coli (EC), B. cereus (BC) and S. aureus (SA) not meeting the microbiological standards imposed by the Chinese Government in 18 jC RTE food products made from four types of major component. The 18 jC RTE food products are divided into four groups based on their major ingredients: ham ( ); sea foods ( ); meats (5); and vegetables ( ). The microbiological standards for ready-to-eat foods are as follows: coliforms, less than 10 MPN/g; E. coli and S. aureus, not detectable; B. cereus, less than 100 CFU/g.

Fig. 3. Incidence of aerobic plate count (APC), coliforms, E. coli (EC), B. cereus (BC), S. aureus (SA) and Pseudomonas spp. (PS) in 18 jC RTE food products with different pH values. The food samples were divided into three groups based on their pH values: 4.00 4.99 ( ), 26 samples; 5.00 5.99 ( ), 100 samples; and z6.00 (5), 38 samples.

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the highest rate of noncompliance (16.0%), followed by seafood (6.0%). Foods that contained meat and ham were the samples with the highest percentages that failed to meet the standards for B. cereus and S. aureus, with a rate of 62.5% and 26.1%, respectively (Fig. 2). Fig. 3 shows the incidence of aerobic plate count, coliforms, E. coli, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. in 18 jC RTE foods with different pH values. The foods were divided into three groups, which were a pH range of 4.00 4.99, 5.00 5.99 and z6, with sample sizes of 26, 100 and 38, respectively. The highest levels of APC, coliforms, B. cereus, S. aureus and Pseudomonas spp. were found in the pH range of 4.00 to 4.99, with positive samples of 80.8%, 42.3%, 69.6%, 95.7% and 69.6%, respectively (Fig. 3). On the other hand, the highest rate of positive E. coli sample was found in the pH range z6 (94.4%). The percentage of 18 jC RTE foods, manufactured by different factories, that were not in compliance with the microbiological standards of the Republic of China Government are shown in Table 4. In general, a higher percentage of samples not in compliance with the coliforms standards of Taiwan were found, as compared to the samples that did not meet the E. coli standards (Table 4). Seven factories, which produced

more than 80% of 18 jC ready-to-eat foods, did not meet the coliforms standard. On the other hand, the highest incidence rate among the 18 jC RTE foods produced by the 16 factories, which were not compliant with the E. coli standard, was 37%.

4. Discussion The large number of aerobic plate count, psychrotrophic Pseudomonas spp., indicator organisms (coliforms and E. coli) and pathogens (B. cereus and S. aureus) detected in the 18 jC RTE food samples surveyed in this investigation revealed that contamination of these foods presented a potential health hazard to consumers. The results presented in this paper had submitted to Department of Health in Taiwan. Local authorities to improve the safety of these products have carried follow-up assessments of the factories that produce 18 jC RTE food products. Ren et al. (1997) discussed the potential sources of microbial contamination of 18 jC box meal processing. After running a critical control point (CCP) decision tree of the hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) system, five CCPs were chosen by the authors. They reported that at each CCP, corrective

Table 4 Percentage of aerobic plate count, coliform, E. coli, B. cereus and S. aureus not meeting the microbiological standard established by the Chinese Government in 18 jC RTE food products made by different factories Factories No. of samples Percentage of samples not meeting the microbiological standarda APC A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P 2 8 19 3 17 6 28 7 1 3 1 3 1 9 34 22 50.0 47.0 84.0 67.0 47.0 67.0 50.0 34.0 0.0 67.0 0.0 67.0 100.0 33.0 79.0 82.0 Coliforms 0.0 75.0 84.0 67.0 47.0 83.0 75.0 14.0 100.0 33.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 78.0 88.0 86.0 E. coli 0.0 37.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 14.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 22.0 15.0 0.0 B. cereus 0.0 50.0 57.9 66.7 58.8 33.3 84.9 78.6 100.0 33.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 44.4 58.8 57.2 S. aureus 0.0 12.5 27.3 33.3 29.4 0.0 21.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 33.3 0.0 11.1 20.6 14.3

a The microbiological standards for ready-to-eat foods are as follows: coliforms, less than 10 MPN/g; E. coli and S. aureus, not detectable; B. cereus, less than 100 CFU/g. For the aerobic plate count, for quality control purpose, 105 CFU/g was chosen as the limit in this investigation.

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actions were immediately taken during the 18 jC box meal production. The bacteriological quality of the 18 jC box meal was significantly increased ( P<0.05) by the corrective actions, as compared to that of traditionally manufactured box meals (Ren et al., 1997). RTE foods, including 18 jC products, provide a source of readily available and nutritious meals for the consumers; however, the safety and microbiological quality of these foods should be the first priority, since they do not receive any heat treatment before consumption. Several investigations regarding the microbiological quality of various RTE or ready-to-use food products, such as vegetable salads (Albrecht et al., 1995; Garca-Gimeno et al., 1996; Kaneko et al., 1999; Odumeru et al., 1997), cold and hot meals served by airlines (Hatakka, 1998a,b), cooked rice (Nichols et al., 1999), street-vended foods (King et al., 2000; Kubheka et al., 2001; Mosupye and Von Holy, 1999), hot-held foods (Chiou et al., 1996), catering dishes (Alberghini et al., 2000), sliced meat and meat products (Gillespie et al., 2000; Soriano et al., 2000) and shrimp (Hatha et al., 1998; Valdimarsson et al., 1998), have been reported. Lin et al. (1989) indicated that the incidence rate of E. coli, Staphylococcus spp. and coliforms was 13.9, 51.8 and 75.5, respectively, in 320 samples of cold dishes. Albrecht et al. (1995) evaluated the microbial contamination of vegetable ingredients (lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower) in salad bars. They found that the total aerobic count and coliforms in these vegetables ranged from 5.51 to 6.63 log CFU g1 and from 4.81 to 6.30 log CFUg1, respectively. Fang et al. (1997a) reported that in 155 instant cereal products retailed in Taiwan, the incidence rate of B. cereus in regular instant cereals and cereal mix was 26% and 38%, respectively. Coliforms were isolated from 6 of the 81 (7.4%) cereal mix products, as well as from 2 of the 74 (2.7%) regular instant cereal products. Our previous results found the incidence rate of coliforms and E. coli in 320 samples of vegetarian food products to be 28.1% and 32.5%, respectively (Fang et al., 1999). The present survey revealed that the incidence of coliforms and E. coli in 164 18 jC RTE foods was 75.0% and 7.9%, respectively. The occurrence of coliforms, especially in high numbers such as >6 log CFU g1, indicates contamination and poor microbiological quality. The reason may be contaminated raw material, cross-contamination during prep-

aration or high storage temperature. Most 18 jC RTE foods used in this investigation contain fresh vegetables. Coliforms on these products reflect the initial microflora of the vegetables in the growing fields and the recontamination during cutting and further processing. According to the Food Sanitation Standard (1993) of Taiwan, ROC, coliform counts should not exceed 10 MPN g1 and E. coli should not be detected at all in RTE foods. In addition, foodborne pathogens such as S. aureus, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes should not be detected in RTE foods. On the other hand, the limit for B. cereus in RTE foods is 100 CFU g1. In this investigation, 25.0%, 92.1%, 50.2% and 82.1% of the 18 jC RTE food products fulfilled the requirements when coliforms, E. coli, B. cereus and S. aureus, respectively, were used as indicators. Seaweed rolled rice balls and 18 jC stored foods made of ham were found to have the highest rate of noncompliance with the S. aureus standard in this study (Tables 3 and 4). The presence of S. aureus in the food samples tested in this study indicates improper handling and possible cross-contamination (Garcia et al., 1986; Snyder, 1998). This microorganism not only plays an important role in foodborne diseases in the United States (Bean et al., 1990) but in Taiwan as well. S. aureus is the second most commonly found foodborne pathogen in Taiwan. The number of outbreaks in Taiwan due to this bacterium ranged from 11 to 24 annually, in the period from 1986 to 1995 (Pan et al., 1997). The enterotoxin A-producing strains of S. aureus were the most frequently isolated ones during the outbreaks in Taiwan. Pan et al. (1997) reported that 53.3% (8 out of 15) of the S. aureus outbreaks in Taiwan in 1994 were associated with enterotoxin A. B. cereus is emerging as an important foodborne pathogen because of its cosmopolitan distribution. A review by Granum and Lund (1997) indicated that B. cereus had become one of the more important causes of food poisoning in the industrialized world. This pathogen is usually isolated from samples of raw rice and thus can be considered as being part of its normal flora (Parry and Gilbert, 1980). Of the 18 jC RTE food samples examined in this study, 49.8% contained B. cereus, which is higher than in other investigations. This microorganism was isolated from 3.4% of vegetarian food products (Fang et al., 1999), 22% of RTE street-vended foods (Mosupye and Von Holy, 1999),

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4.8% of cold meals served by airlines (Hatakka, 1998a), 10.5% of RTE fresh vegetables (Kaneko et al., 1999), 8.4% of rice products (Chyan et al., 1989) and 2% of cooked rice (Nichols et al., 1999). However, in one investigation, more than 83% of ready-toserve foods, including noodles, mashed potatoes, rice, succotash, lima beans, skim milk, infant formula (powdered), nonfat milk, chicken salad, egg salad, turkey gravy, beef gravy and cauliflower, were found to be contaminated with B. cereus (Harmon and Kautter, 1991). During the years 1986 to 1995, 104 outbreaks caused by B. cereus were reported in Taiwan, and this bacterium was noted to be the third most commonly implicated foodborne pathogen in this country (Pan et al., 1997). Cooked rice plays an important role in meal in Asian countries, such as Taiwan, Japan and China. Many of the 18 jC RTE food products contain cooked rice, which has long been recognized as a vehicle of B. cereus food poisoning (Goepfert et al., 1972; Schiemann, 1978). The high incidence of B. cereus (49.8%) in the 18 jC RTE food products reveals a potential hazard to the consumer. B. cereus has also been responsible for illness transmitted by the consumption of fresh vegetables (Portnoy et al., 1976). Although 18 jC RTE foods were developed in Japan, the market share of this type of food has grown rapidly in Taiwan in recent years. Yau and Huang (1994) established the sensory profile of 18 jC cooked rice; the present investigation provides the microbiological quality of 18 jC RTE food products. The results of our study indicate that there are some handling practices in the manufacture of 18 jC RTE foods that require more attention. Temperature control is a key issue in producing this type of food. In addition, it is also important that the products are manufactured under Good Hygienic Practices. Most importantly, an appropriate hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) system, which has been implemented in some box meal factories in Taiwan (Fang and Jeng, 2002), should be developed to enhance food safety.

findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of their sponsors.

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Acknowledgements This work was supported by Department of Health, Republic of China (Project DOH89-TD-1052). Any

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