A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure based on fliCh7 and rfbE genes was developed for the
detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw pork meat and ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products. Two different
DNA extraction procedures were evaluated for application on meat products. MasterPure™ DNA Purification
kit in combination with immunomagnetic separation was found to be the best method in a meat system. The
optimized PCR included an enrichment step in brilliant green bile 2% broth at 37 °C. This method was applied
to artificially inoculated meat and RTE meat products with different concentrations of E. coli O157:H7. The
results indicate that the PCR assay developed could sensitively and specifically detect E. coli O157:H7 in raw
pork meat and RTE meat products in approximately 10 h, including a 6 h enrichment step. Thus, this method
could be proposed for screening E. coli O157:H7 in raw pork and RTE meat products.