Bacterial Evaluation of Fresh Juices Sold in Cafes and Restaurants in the City of Benghazi, Libya

Abstract

Food safety is a big challenge that concern all human communities and food production factories. The information on the bacterial evaluations of fresh natural juices in the city of Benghazi remained very limited and unclear. This study was carried out to evaluate the bacterial contamination for two of the most popular selling freshly made juices, including mango and strawberry juices. The results of screening showed bacterial growth in 117 (91.41%) out of the total samples 128. The evaluation during the second season showed a higher bacterial growth rate of 96.55 %. The most predominant bacteria contaminating the targeted juices was Klebsiella pneumoniae, with an average of (36.21%), followed by fecal Escherichia coli (31.03%) for both juices. All the contaminated juices represented bacteria count out of the accepted value. Gram-negative pathogens showed resistance to limited antibiotics, including Amoxicillin, Amikacin, and Clarithromycin, whereas the Gram-positive bacteria showed higher resistance rates. This study concluded that, increase in bacterial diversity and bacterial count out of the accepted standard as well as the presence of fecal E. coli indicating a poor level of hygiene during the process of preparing juices, leading to the possibility of causing diseases and exposing people to food poisoning.