EVALUATION OF FUNGAL CONTAMINATION OF SOME COOKED FOODS

ABSTRACT

Background: Foodborne illness is an ever present threat that occurs from eating contaminated foods. Fungi play a crucial role in the contamination of cooked food due to their ability to thrive in physio-chemical conditions and high temperature used in cooking. There is however insufficient data on the incidence of disease associated with cooked foods for developing countries. Good food hygiene ensures that food preparation and preservation of foods are safe for human consumption and that microbial contamination is prevented as much as possible. Methods: Two hundred food samples from food vendors were collected at random from various areas around Ugbowo, Benin City. Standard methods were used for the dilution, spreading, incubation, enumeration, and identification. Serial dilution of each food was prepared in quarter strength ringers lactate and inoculated onto an agar plate. Growth was counted and later identified. Results: The mean total plate count of fungi recorded were 3.53X10² CFU/g in Spaghetti, 3.23X10² CFU/g in Beans, 3.3X10² CFU/g in Fried plantain, 3.7X10² CFU/g in Moi-moi, 2.88X10² CFU/g in fufu (santana). The fungi isolates were obtained which includes Mucor and Aspergillus in the cooked food samples. Conclusion: The survey found that most of the cooked foods sold had some fungal contamination but it was below the acceptable limit. The causes could be attributed to poor food hygiene and inadequate processing. Additionally, it is suggested that the public health risks can be avoided by proper care and handling of the food samples in order to prevent further contamination, and also there is a need for intensive surveillance. Keywords: Vended foods, Contamination, Colony Forming Unit (CFU), Fungi, and food safety.