ASSESSMENT OF BACTERIA CONTAMINATION OF FOOD VENDORS AND UTENSILS

ABSTRACT

The consumption of ready-to-eat foods vended in streets have raised public health concern in terms of food safety implying their microbiological quality status could be unquestionable. Consequently, this study therefore aimed at investigating consortium of microbes present in ready-to-eat foods vended in 10 different streets of Benin metropolis. Isolation of microorganisms was carried out via pour plating method, then identification by colonial morphology, Gram staining and microscopy, and further biochemical analysis for confirmation of microbes. Results from counted microorganisms isolated from foods vendors ranged from 7.33±1.411 to 68.66±1.855, while the bacteria isolates were E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. These organisms were known to cause food-borne diseases due to their pathogenicity test. However the presence of these pathogenic microbes suggests significant public health hazards. Hence stringent enforcement of standard and food safety measures is advised to curtail future outbreak of food-borne diseases.