MICROBIAL EVALUATION OF READY-TO-EAT RICE SOLD IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN CAFETARIA (BUKA).

ABSTRACT

The microbial contamination of ready to eat (RTE) cooked rice samples obtained from the school cafeteria (buka) of the University of Benin was studied. Ready-to-eat foods (RTEs) are foods consumed without any further processing. They are widely consumed as choice meals especially by school-aged children and the fast paced working class in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where they contribute substantially to the dietary intake. Depending on the type of processing and packaging material, RTEs could be industrially or traditionally processed. Typically, RTE vendors are of low literacy level, as such, they lack knowledge about good hygiene and food handling practices. In addition, RTEs are often vended in outdoor environments such that they are exposed to several contaminants of microbial origin. Depending on the quantity and type of food contaminant, consumption of contaminated RTEs may result in foodborne diseases and several other adverse health effects in humans. The mean heterotrophic bacteria count of rice samples from the different bukas revealed that Buka 1 had the lowest count (15.5 ± 0.5) followed by Buka 3 (18.0 ± 0.0), Buka 4 (27.0 ± 1.0), Buka 2 (35.0 ± 1.0), with Buka 5 (48.5 ± 0.7) having the highest mean heterotrophic count. The most predominant bacteria pathogens isolated in this study include Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Alcaligenes faecalis, Shigella spp., and Salmonella paratyphi. It also confirmed that pathogenic bacteria can exist in cooked foods even though they may physically appear to be quite wholesome. This proper steps and good hygiene practice should be employed and good measures should also be taken to ensure that the occurrence of these organisms in foods is kept within limit to reduce the risk of bacteria.