Microbial and Physicochemical Screening of Ready to Eat Street Foods

Abstract

Food samples: African salad, fried yam, fried potato, fried plantain, bole and suya meat retailed in three locations along Choba, Aluu and Alakahia were analyzed for their microbial load. Analysis of the food samples revealed Total viable count ranging from 3.8×107 cfu/g to 5.2×107 cfu/g (African salad), 2.6×107 cfu/g to 3.3×107 cfu/g (Bole), 3.0×107 cfu/g to 3.4×107 cfu/g (Plantain), 3.4×107 cfu/g to 3.6×107 cfu/g (Potato), 2.9×107 cfu/g to 3.3×107 cfu/g (Yam) and 4.8×107 cfu/g to 5.1×107 cfu/g (Suya meat) from the various locations. The organism isolated includes, Staphylococcus aureus (25%), Escherichia coli (25%), Pseudomonas (15%), Streptococcus (15%), Bacillus cereus (12%) and Salmonella spp (8%). The TVC count in these food samples exceeds the standard set by International Commission for Microbiology Specification for Food (ICMSF) for ready-to-eat food which states that TVC count between 0-107 cfu/g is acceptable, 104 to 105 cfu/g is tolerable and >107 cfu/g is unacceptable. Therefore, these foods are not bacteriologically fit for consumption. The occurrence of these bacterial isolates in the foods constitutes public health risk to consumers as these pathogens have been associated with foodborne infections Therefore, government should enforce strong food safety regulations for street foods vendors. In addition, street food vendors need to be educated on food safety and hygienic practices