EVALUATION OF MICROORGANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH SNACKS

ABSTRACT

Snacks are light foods that are usually hurriedly taken, they can also be called junk foods. The snack varieties used for this research work were buns and cakes and they were collected from two different locations. Some were collected from restaurants and others from kiosks. A total of 30 samples were used, 15 of each. The two samples were brought to the laboratory for the analyses of their microbiological quality. Total microbial numbers of the samples from the restaurant sites are (2.9 x 103 – 21.4 x 104) when compared with those from the local kiosks (3.0 x 103 – 22.6 x 104) after 24 hours of aerobic incubation at 370c. The predominant microorganism were the bacteria and fungi species; the pre dominant bacteria found identified were E.coli, Klebsiella aerogenes, Bacillus spp Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp, Shigella spp, Lactobacillus, Pseudomonas spp, Salmonella spp where as the predominant fungal organisms were Aspergillus spp, Penicillum spp and Fusarium spp. The isolation of these large numbers of microorganisms with grave public health implications demands that people, especially students of all grades, are very cautious in patronizing exposed and badly displayed snacks, attractively displayed ones in a visibly dirty environment or snacks sold by apparently unhygienic snack grocers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certification                                                                                                                            i

Dedication                                                                                                                               ii

Acknowledgement                                                                                                                  iii

Table of contents                                                                                                                    iv

List of tables                                                                                                                           vi

Abstract                                                                                                                                   vii

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1       Background of Study                                                                                                  1

1.2       Aim and Objective                                                                                                     4

Chapter two

2.1       Literature Review                                                                                                       6

2.2       Unhealthy Snacks                                                                                                       8

2.3       Healthy Snacks                                                                                                           8

2.3.1    Healthy Snacking: Deterrents and Motivations                                                         9

2.4       Nutritional Implications of Snacks                                                                             9

2.5       Preservation                                                                                                                13

2.6       Methods                                                                                                                      13

2.7       Spoilage                                                                                                                      14

2.7.1    Causes of Spoilage                                                                                                     15

Chapter Three

Materials and Methods                                                                                                           18

3.1       Source of Material                                                                                                      18

3.2       Sampling and Sampling Techniques                                                                          18

3.3       Media Preparation                                                                                                      18

3.4       Determination of Microbial Load                                                                               19

3.5       Determination of Microbial Flora and Prevalence of Microorganisms                      20

3. 5.1   Characterization of Microbial Isolates                                                                       21

3.5.1.1 Characterization of Fungi Isolates                                                                              21

3.5.1.2 Characterization of Bacteria Isolates                                                                          22

3.5.2    Other Methods of Isolate Identification                                                                     25

3.5.3    Identification of Microbial Isolates                                                                            26

3.5.4    Determination of Prevalence of Isolates                                                                    27

Chapter Four

4.1       Results                                                                                                                        28

Chapter Five

5.1       Discussion                                                                                                                   37

5.2       Conclusion                                                                                                                  41

LIST OF TABLES

Table                                                                                                      page

1          Bacteria Load of the test Snack foods                                                                28

2          Percentage Occurrence of Bacteria Isolated from Different Snack foods               29

3          Percentage Occurrence of Fungi Isolated from Different Snack foods               31

4          Fungi Load of test Snacks                                                                                          32

5          Identification of Fungi Isolates                                                                                  33

6          Identification of Bacteria Isolates                                                                              34

7          Identification of Bacteria Isolates with Gram Stain, Motility and Morphology Spore test               35

8          Identification of Bacteria Isolates with biochemical test                                           36

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF STUDY

In Nigeria today, most people depend on snacks for a significant portion of their nutritional requirement. This is common among young generation “the youths” (single and married) with our young ladies occupying the greatest population of this class. A snack is seen in western culture as type of food not meant to be eaten as a main meal of the day like breakfast, lunch, or dinner but rather to assuage a person’s hunger between meals, providing a brief supply of energy for the body.

Snacks can also he known as ready to eat (RTE) foods. It may be hot or cold, raw or cooked, but ready for immediate consumption at the point of sale without further heating or treatment. Ready to eat (RTE) foods are foods that are eaten the same way they are prepared and sold and they include: cereal based ready to eat foods, (which includes buns and cakes), dried meat, dried fish and they do not include nuts in the shell, whole raw fruits and vegetables that are intended for hulling, peeling or washing by the consumer. Snacks are popular articles of diet because they are appetizing in appearance, convenient in form, nutritious in content and gives a pleasing fullness to the stomach when consumers (Gilbert R.J et al 2000, Miller A.A and Ramsden F, 1955) the preparation and sale of snacks is an age-old activity it is almost universal in developing countries and in the industrial world. This activity has reached new dimensions as result of rapid change. Snack foods are served quickly, are also tasty and available at very reasonable and cheap rates. It attracts all the age groups especially the young people.

The safety and shelf life of the street foods depends upon the interaction of chemical, physical and microbial factors.

Street foods prepared and displayed in open spaces can be contaminated by dust, exhaust, smokes, insects (flying and crawling), hands of intending buyers and climate factors. The street food (snacks) industry plays a very important role in the meeting the food requirements of urban dwellers in many cities and towns of developing countries. This snack industry feeds millions of people daily with a wide variety of foods that are relatively cheap and easily affordable. Recently, food borne illness that are caused by the consumption of street foods have become a major health challenge. The traditional methods used in preparations, inappropriate holding temperatures and poor personal hygiene of food handlers are the main causes of combination of street-vended foods (snacks). Consumers who depend on such foods are more interested in the convenience, easy access and cheap/ affordable prices and they pay little or no attention to its quality, safety and hygiene. (Mensah, P et al., 2002, Barro, N et al.,2006).

Street foods are frequently associated with diarrhea diseases which occur due to improper use of additives, the presence of pathogenic bacteria, environment contaminants and disregard of good manufacturing practices “GMPs” and good hygiene practices “GHPs” (Falola A.O et al., 2006).

Vendors are often poorly educated, unlicensed and untrained in food hygiene practices, and they work most times under crude, unsanitary conditions with little or no knowledge about the causes of food borne diseases. Most of the snacks are not well protected from flies, which may carry food borne pathogens. Safe food storage temperatures are rarely applied to street foods. Potential health risks are associated with contamination of food by Escherichia coli, Salmonella  typhi, Pseudomonas species, Staphylococcus aureus during preparation and post preparation stages.

Generally, snacks are divided into types which local and continental snacks include sandwiches, kebabs, hotdogs, meat pies, cakes, salads, buns and other bakery products while local snacks include roasted corn, roasted plantain, potato chips, fried maize paste (kokoro) and so on.

However, some of these continental snacks like meat pies and buns have been imitated locally and adulterated while being produced hence they are easily vended locally because of their huge market acceptance.

Buns and cakes are savory snacks that contain dairy production and cereals and other savory ingredients. They are baked pastries made of flour dough that covers the numerous contents. They are very popular snacks. Generally, baked foods are perishable foods with short shelf life and they need special care in handling. Microorganisms thrive easily due to the high nutrient contained in the ingredients used for preparations of snacks. Also there have been reported cases of spoilt buns or cakes at their points of sale.

Young people do a good deal of snacking while some parents supplement their babies’ diet with snacks. Some snacks not only contain excess calories but also surplus fat and salt while some snacks do not provide the best balance of nutrients, they maybe fortified with some various nutrients, though some can cause weight gain in consumers. (Foskett et al.,2004). Snacks are usually sold along the road, in kiosks, restaurants, and some are hawked from place to place and on highways. The increase in the consumption of snacks has been associated with changes in social pattern characterized by increased mobility, large numbers of itinerary workers and less family-centered activities (Oche and Akano., 2012). Also, convenience/ modern lifestyle, industrialization, economic melt down, quest for more wealth, materialism and their associated lack of time to prepare proper meals and low purchasing power are some of the reasons advanced for the increased patronage of snacks ( Nelson, 2006).

In addition, snack preparation and its sale provide employment and contribute to food security of the economy (Mensah et al., 2001, Opeolu et al., 2010).

A significant preparation of the approximately 1.5 million episodes of diarrhea and more than 3 million deaths globally recorded annually are as a result of consumption of food with microbial pathogen and toxins. We live in a microbial world an there many opportunities  for food to be contaminated as it is produced and prepared, many of these  food borne products are found in healthy animals raised for food ( usually in the intestine).

Although governments throughout the world are attempting to improve the safety of the foods /snacks supply, the occurrence of food borne diseases remain a significant health issue in both developed and developing countries (WHO, 2011). The global incidence of food borne diseases in difficult to estimate but it has been reported that in 2005 alone 1.8 million people died from diarrhea disease. A great proportion of these cases can be attributed to contamination of food and drinking water (WHO, 2011).

1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVE

This study was conducted to determine the population of the predominant microorganisms which were present in the snacks obtained from the selected areas and also to isolate and identify the various microorganisms associated with snacks sold in the selected areas. This knowledge will inform on the possible pathogenic microorganisms that are contained in such contaminated snacks.

This study could reveal the potential of food poisoning outbreak relating to snack consumption and relate this to handling practices through evaluation of the pathogenecity of the microorganisms isolated from snack matrices.

Buyers has the right to create dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when you experience issue with the file received. 

Dispute can only be created when you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of contents and content of the file you received. 

ProjectShelve.com shall either provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and Conditions are applied.

Buyers are expected to confirm that the material you are paying for is available on our website ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.

In case of payment for a material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that is available on our website within 48 hours.

You cannot change topic after receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.