Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella might contaminate similar types of meat products and cause deadly diseases in
humans. Traditional microbiological analyses to detect these pathogens are labor-intensive and time-consuming. The objective of
this study was to apply a multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of the pathogenic bacteria in certain raw and ready-to-eat meat
matrices. The tested samples had aerobic plate counts ranging from non-detectable, in chicken nuggets and salami, to 8.36 log10CFU/g
in ground pork. The pH of homogenates spanned from 6.86, in ground beef, to 7.17 in salami. Following a 24-h enrichment, the multiplex
PCR assay could concurrently detect the three pathogens at 0.2 log10CFU/g in ground beef, roast beef, beef frankfurters,
chicken nuggets, salami and turkey ham, and 1.2 log10CFU/g in ground pork. This multiplex PCR oVers an eYcient microbiological
tool for presumptive detection of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Shigella in meat.