{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T23:09:16Z","timestamp":1790982556674,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,23]],"date-time":"2025-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758585600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Science, Knowledge University","award":["01\/Sa-25-10-2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01\/Sa-25-10-2023"]}]},{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Science, Knowledge University","award":["J-001609"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["J-001609"]}]},{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Science, Knowledge University","award":["J-000157"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["J-000157"]}]},{"name":"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under Microbial Biosystematics and Bioinformatics and Canada-European Union Harmonization","award":["01\/Sa-25-10-2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01\/Sa-25-10-2023"]}]},{"name":"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under Microbial Biosystematics and Bioinformatics and Canada-European Union Harmonization","award":["J-001609"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["J-001609"]}]},{"name":"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under Microbial Biosystematics and Bioinformatics and Canada-European Union Harmonization","award":["J-000157"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["J-000157"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods including sandwiches, pastries, shawarma, and burgers are widely consumed and may potentially increase the risk of foodborne infections. This study investigated the prevalence, serovar diversity, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of Salmonella spp. in RTE foods collected between January and June 2024 from street vendors and restaurants across Erbil, Iraq. A total of 350, including 85 sandwiches, 75 pastries, 95 shawarma, and 95 burgers obtained from 115 cafeteria, 120 street vendors, and 115 restaurants were analyzed. Salmonella was detected in 7.1% (n = 25) of samples, with a high contamination in shawarma (8.4%; n = 95), followed by sandwiches (7.1%; n = 85), pastries (6.7%; n = 75), and burgers (6.3%; n = 95). Street vendors exhibited a higher (9.2%; n = 120) contamination rate compared to the cafeteria (6.9%; n = 115) and restaurants (5.2%; n = 115). Among 25 Salmonella isolates, 10 serotypes were identified, with S. Anatum (20%) and S. Typhimurium (16%) being the most prevalent. All isolates were susceptible to colistin, cefadroxil, and gentamicin, while showing high resistance to streptomycin (52%) and levofloxacin (48%). Contamination peaked during the warmer months, particularly in June (15.4%) and May (11.5%), when compared to the other sampling months. These findings highlight significant food safety concerns related to Salmonella contamination and AMR in RTE foods, emphasizing the urgent need for enhanced hygiene practices and regulatory oversight especially among street vendors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms13102225","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,23]],"date-time":"2025-09-23T13:48:37Z","timestamp":1758635317000},"page":"2225","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Prevalence, Serotypes, and Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Species in Ready-to-Eat Foods in Erbil, Iraq"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4346-6532","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dhary Alewy","family":"Almashhadany","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Science, Knowledge University, Erbil 44001, Iraq"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9088-2905","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdulwahed Ahmed","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Laboratories Department, Alnoor University, Mosul 41002, Iraq"},{"name":"Department of Veterinary Public Health (DVPH), College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul, Mosul 41001, Iraq"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2031-0834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Izhar U. H.","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ehuwa, O., Jaiswal, A.K., and Jaiswal, S. (2021). Salmonella, food safety and food handling practices. Foods, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/foods10050907"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8867250","DOI":"10.1155\/2020\/8867250","article-title":"Prevalence of microorganisms of public health significance in ready-to-eat foods sold in developing countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"2020","author":"Mengistu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. 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