The increase in global emergence of food-borne diseases has been a major concern in food safety due to the potential health risk of pathogen contamination or the toxins they produce in food. Pathogens as indicators of contamination have been used to measure the efficiency and implementation of handling practices in food processing or production.

One of the most significant pathogens associated with food-borne diseases and outbreaks in the world is Salmonella due to its mode of transmission through fecal-oral route (Malkawi & Gharaibeh, 2003; Hassanein et al., 2011). According to the Food and Waterborne Diseases Monthly Surveillance Report No.8 by the Epidemiology Bureau Public health Surveillance Division of the Department of Health (DOH) in the Philippines, a total of 16, 888 typhoid fever cases by Salmonella were reported nationwide from January 1 to August 31, 2019.

As one of the leading causes of foodborne illnesses in many countries, surveillance and monitoring of this pathogen should then be supported by reliable and efficient detection methods to ensure food safety. From the labor-intensive and time-consuming conventional methods of Salmonella detection, a variety of techniques using emerging technologies have been developed to yield faster results with higher throughput of samples.

With eggs and broiler chicken as the priority commodities, this study will therefore investigate the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in meat and meat products commonly sold in the Philippine retail markets using a modern molecular-based technique – a PCR-based assay. The current study will be implemented in the interest to initiate efforts and generate preliminary information for the future conduct of a comprehensive microbiological risk assessment on Salmonella spp.