Bacillus cereus as a food poisoning bacteria threats human health worldwide. Rapid and accurate detection of it in meat products is a demand. Aim of this study was to evaluate risk assessment of B. cereus in cooked meat products using VITEK® 2 compact biochemical approach and cycling PCR assay. A total of ninety random samples of cooked meat products represented by luncheon, sausage and burger (30 of each) were evaluated.
B. cereus was isolated from meat products with incidence of 7.8 % using VITEK® 2 compact system. Cycling PCR screened virulence gene of B. cereus. It was found that six samples were positive for cytk virulence gene. While, hbl virulence gene failed to be detected.
Presence of Bacillus cereus in meat products considers a great risk for human health, so accurate and rapid monitoring of meat products using combination of VITEK® 2 (biochemical approach) and cycling PCR identification is recommended for safety of meat products.