Foodborne pathogens are becoming a globally formidable health complication and perceived as a major health concern in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In our previous study, 23 of Salmonella entrica were isolated from ready-to-eat (RTE) fast foods included shawarma, falafel, vegetable salad and kibtha, from fifteen different food corners in Al-Quwayiyah, Riyadh Region of Saudi Arabia. Identification was based on conventional culture, biochemical and serological techniques. The objective of the current study is to confirm identification the serovars of S. entrica isolates using multiplex-PCR. For this purpose, two specific oligonucleotide primer pairs were used to amplify flic and sefA genes for S.entrica serovars Typhimurium and Enteriditis. The results revealed that 5 of S. Typhimurium and 3 of S. Enteriditis were obtained from 8 positive Salmonella spp. In shawarma samples, 2 of S. Typhimurium and 1 of S. Enteriditis were obtained from 3 positive Salmonella spp. In falahfel samples, 6 of S. Typhimurium and 2of S. Enteriditis were obtained from 8 positive Salmonella spp. In vegetable salad samples, only 2 of S. Typhimurium and 2 of S. Enteriditis were obtained from 4 positive Salmonella spp. in Kibtha samples. These results highlight the importance of the multiplex PCR over serotype for the rapid detection of Salmonella from RTE fast food samples.
