ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the microbiology of ready to eat selected foods (Agidi,Okpa) sold in Umuahia, Abia state and transported to Linnc Medical Laboratory Umudike for analysis. A total of Twenty (20) different samples of okpa and agidi (Bambara grundunt and zea mays), were examined for microbial contamination. A total of ten (10) bacterial were isolated of which four (4) different genera were identified which include Escherichia coli, staphylococcus anures, Salmonella species and Shigella species. The fungal isolated were Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus ninger. The percentage occurrence of the bacterial isolate that staphlococcu anures had the highest percentage occurrence of forty (40) percent, while the least percentage occurrence was observed for shigella species of ten (10) percent. For fungal the percentage occurrence of fungal isolate indicate that Asperigellus flavus had the highest percentage of sixty (60) while the least had the percentage of forty (40) was recorded for Aspergillus niger. These differences may be explained by the microbial quality of the ingredient used and personal hygiene of the vendors. Good hygiene should be ensured during preparation and sales of these foods, to prevent illness as a result of consumption of contaminated foods.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Title Page i
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AIMS AND OBJECT
1.1 Aim
and Objectives 3
CHAPTER
TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Food spoilage/Preservation 6
2.1.1 Food Security 6
2.2.0 Sources of Food Contamination 7
2.2.1 Removal of Microorganisms 8
2.2.2 Low Temperature 8
2.2.3 High Temperature 8
2.2.4 Water Availability 8
2.2.5 Chemical Based Presentation 9
2.2.6 Microbial Product-Based Inhibition 9
2.3.0 Agidi (Produced from Maize) 9
2.3.1 Preparation of Agidi 10
2.3.2 Nutritional Value of Agidi 11
2.4.0 Okpa ( produced from Bambarra groundnut) 12
2.4.1 Nutritional Value of Okpa 12
2.5.0 Ways to reduce the health hazards 12
2.5.1 Food safety hazards 12
2.5.2 Biological Hazards 12
2.5.3 Biological Hazards Prevention 12
2.5.4 Chemical Hazards 13
2.5.5 Chemical Hazards Prevention 13
2.5.6 Physical Hazards 13
2.5.7 Allergic Hazards 14
2.6 Regulations and Laws 14
2.7 Consumers of ready to eat foods 14
2.8.0 Microbiological Safety 15
2.8.1 Personal Hygiene 16
2.9.0 Food Control Systems 16
2.9.1 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) 16
2.9.2 Food safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 17
CHAPTER
THREE MATERIAL AND METHODS
3.0 Material and Methods 18
3.1 The Study Area 18
3.2 Sample Collection 18
3.3 Media Preparation 18
3.4 Sample Processing 19
3.5 Identification of Isolates 19
3.6 Gram Staining 19
3.7.0 Biochemical tests 19
3.7.1 Catalase Tests 20
3.7.2 Coagulase Tests 20
3.7.3 Oxidase Tests 20
3.7.4 Indole Tests 20
3.7.5 Methyl Red (MR) Test 20
3.7.6 Voges Proskaver Test 21
3.7.7 Test for Sugar fermentation, Carbohydrate Utilization 21
3.7.8 Catalase Test 21
CHAPTER
FOUR RESULTS
4.0 Result 22
CHAPTER
FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Discussion 36
5.2 Conclusion
References 38
LIST
OF TABLES
TABLE
|
TITLE
|
PAGE
|
1
|
Morphological Identification of bacteria isolated from the
samples
|
23
|
2
|
Identification of the
bacteria isolated
|
25
|
3
|
Identification
of the fungi isolated
|
27
|
4
|
Total microbial counts
of the agidi samples
|
29
|
5
|
Total microbial counts
of the Okpa Samples
|
31
|
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Ready to eat foods are those foods prepared on the
market and ready to eat or prepared at home and consumed in the market without
further preparation. Ready to eat food can be described as the status of food
being ready for immediate consumption at the point of sale. Ready to eat food
could be raw or cooked, hot or chilled, and can be consumed without further
heat treatment (Tsang, 2002). Different terms have been used to describe such
ready-to-eat food; these include convenient, ready, instant, and fast foods.
Examples of such ready to eat foods include moi-moi, jollof-rice, fried meat,
pastries, meat-pie, etc. Ready to eat foods usually include a number of
ingredients which may or may not be cooked. Some Ready to eat foods also are
regarded as potentially hazardous, such foods can support the growth of
pathogenic (food poisoning) bacteria and must be kept at certain temperatures
to minimize the growth of any pathogen that may be present in the food or to
prevent the formation of toxins in the food (NSW, 2009). Although it’s
extremely difficult to pinpoint the precise beginning of human awareness of the
presence and role of microorganisms in foods, the available evidence indicates
that this knowledge preceded the establishment of bacteriology or microbiology
as a science (Jay, 2006). Purchasing ready to eat foods from the market vendors
poses a considerable risk to public health especially done to the observed poor
hygiene practices.
In most cases where studies on vendors have been done,
the vendors do not have adequate washing facilities and some start their duties
without proper bath. Foods are subjected to repeated contamination from
unwashed hands and the materials for wrapping such as leaves, reusable
polyethylene bags (Bryan et al., 1997).
There is a general perception that ready to eat vended
foods are unsafe mainly because of the environment under which they are
prepared and consumed which exposes the food to numerous potential
contaminations. Ready to eat vendors usually take their food to their consumers
and therefore operate from such places as bus terminals, market places,
industrial sites and other street corners where ready and numerous clienteles. Unfortunately,
these locations usually do not meet all food safety requirements. For e.g.,
large amount of garbage accumulates and provide harbourage for insects and
other animal pests. The utensils used are also of a nature that lead to
contamination especially through leaching of toxic heavy metals or simply due
to unsanitary exposure to the environment (Nago,2005).
In contrast, concerns over the safety and quality of
ready to eat foods have been raised because vendors lack appropriate basic food
safety issues. They often use stands and carts of crude and inefficient constructions
running water is not easily accessible hand and dish washing is done in the
same bucket, sometimes without soap. In many cases toilets are not available
thus forcing the vendors to eliminate their body waste in nearby areas and
return to their vending sites without washing their hands. Such conditions and
practises are likely to lead to cross contamination of cooked foods (Mensah et al., 2002). Furthermore, safe food
storage temperatures are difficult to maintain, since foods are often displayed
over long periods and may not be reheated before serving. In other cases,
vendors buy raw materials from dubious sources which may either already be
contaminated with food borne pathogens or be unfit for consumption due to other
reasons. However, microbiological studies on ready to eat foods in American,
Asian and African countries have revealed high bacterial counts and a high
incidence of food borne bacterial pathogens in the food. Ready to eat food can be of animal and plant
origin including fruits, vegetables and bakery products (USFDA, 2009). Since
Ready to eat foods are consumed without additional treatment, a risk of
foodborne disease outbreaks linked to the consumption of ready to eat foods are
high if is the food was improperly handled. Ready to eat foods were a source of
bacterial foodborne outbreaks and various foodborne pathogens have been found
in the RTE products in previous studies (Castro-Rosas et al., 2012; Seow et al., 2012).
The consumption of street foods has been suggested to
potentially increase the risk of foodborne diseases as street foods are readily
contaminated from different sources as there is no proper safety, quality and
hygiene practices during preparation (Tambekaret al., 2008). In fact, street foods have often been associated with
travellers’ diarrhea and other foodborne diseases.
Lacking personal hygiene among food handlers is one of
the most commonly reported practices contributing to food-borne illness and
poor hand and surface hygiene is also a significant contributory factor (Bryan,
1997; WHO, 2000). Contamination of food premises has been shown to be
associated with poor hygiene standards (Cogan et al., 2002). The hands of food handler can be pivotal as vector
in the spread of food-borne diseases due to poor personal hygiene or
cross-contamination. Hand washing, a simple and effective way to cut down on
cross contamination is too often forgotten. It was reported that 42% of
food-borne diseases outbreaks which took place in America have been caused by
food handlers (Sadiq, 2008). The risk of food-borne illness due contact with
hand or surface depends on both the level of contamination as well as the
probability of transfer, and the importance of contaminated surface in relation
to potential transmission of pathogens to food is apparent in food processing
(Synchet al., 2000).
1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate the safety
and quality of Ready-to-eat foods in Umuahia.
OBJECTIVES:
1.
To determine the total bacterial counts of
the isolated from ready to eat selected foods in Umuahia
2.
To characterize and identify the isolated
organisms from the samples
3.
To determine the percentage occurrence of
the organisms isolated from different food samples
4.
To carry out antibiotics susceptibility tests
on the organisms isolated from ready to eat foods in Umuahia.
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