EFFECT OF DEEP AND SURFACE FRYING AND MI-CROWAVE COOKING ON LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES FOUND IN HOT DOGS

Over the last several years Listeria monocytogenes had become an important foodborne pathogen which could grow at the refrigeator temperature below -0.4°C and also at the high temperature. 50°C. This microorganism can grow in meat and fish products and cause many seri‌ous epidimic diseases such as listeriosis. Samples representing long (23x 2.6 cc) and short (11x 2.1 cc) hot dogs were examined for total plate counts and /.monocytogenes counts over a period of four weeks. After deep and surface frying and microwave cooking, microbiological collected from McBride Agar medium was carried out to make sure that the strains belonged to l.monocytogenes and were hoemolytic pathogenic listeria. Data showed that microwave cooking was dangerous due to the surface frying. Deep frying however destroyed all the counts of l.monocytogenes. The results indicated that much care should be given to the hy‌gienic conditions in sausage plants. In variable from week to week; rang‌ing among the weeks from 352% to 671% before and after cooking re‌spectively. The respective percentages for listeria were 227 and 167%.