Bacteriological quality of street vended ready–to-eat foods in Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria: A study of University environment

Abstract

Investigation was carried out into the bacteriological quality of street vended ready- to-eat foods sold around
Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. Ten different foods consisting of 9 fully processed and 1 no heat
processed foods were analyzed for the presence of bacteria. The food samples were collected from food
vendors at car parks and canteens around the University campus and were determined by serial dilution using
the spread plate method on Plate Count agar (PCA), Nutrient Agar and Mannitol Egg Yolk Polymyxin Agar
(MYP). The mean count for all food examined exceeded the maximum acceptable limit of 105
cfu/g set by the
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nation. The food with the highest mean microbial count
of 5.5x106 was fufu while the least count of 2.7x106 was recorded for semovita. Bacteria isolated with the highest
incidence was Bacillus cereus (21%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (18.9%), Klebsiella sp. (18.2%),
Micrococcus spp. (16.8%), Escherichia coli (11.9%), Bacillus subtilis (6.3%), Enterobacter spp (4.2%),
Lactobacillus spp (1.4%), while Salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa the lowest incidence of 0.7% each.
All these bacteria are known agent of food borne diseases. Mishandling and disregard of hygienic measures
(personal and environmental hygiene) on the part of the food vendors and lack of portable water at preparation
venues contributed to the contamination rates of microorganisms observed in this study. The food vendors
should be subjected to various seminars on food safety and quality control.