AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MICROBIAL BURDEN OF SOME COOKED FOODS VENDED

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Antimicrobial susceptibility in vended cooked food is a crucial aspect of food safety and public health in developing countries like Nigeria. Foodborne illnesses, often caused by microbial contamination, pose a significant public health concern globally. Emerging antimicrobial resistance (AMR) complicates the treatment of such infections. The primary objective is to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of microorganisms isolated from vended cooked food in Ugbowo. Specific goals include assessing susceptibility profiles, comparing patterns with commonly used antibiotics and antifungal agents, and identifying multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Methodology: The study collected samples of various cooked foods and isolated microorganisms using standard microbiological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted against a panel of antibiotics and antifungal agent, techniques such as disc diffusion method and agar well diffusion method was used to determine the isolate’s susceptibility. Results: Most of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to Rocephin, Erythromycin, Septrin, Ciprofloxacin, Streptomycin, Gentamycin, Perfloxacin and the fungi isolates were moderately sensitive to Fluconazole. All the bacteria isolates showed resistance to Amoxicillin, Zinnacef, Ampliclox antibiotics. Conclusion: The presence of bacteria and fungi in the examined vended cooked foods shows that prompt attention of public health officers is needed to train food vendors on how to produce safe foods that will reduce the incidence of foodborne diseases, multidrug resistant microorganism and the transfer of antibiotic resistant microorganisms from food to man. Keywords: Vended foods, Antimicrobial, Susceptible, Resistance and Antibiotics.