Antibiotic Resistance in Microbes from Street Fruit Drinks and Hygiene Behavior of the Vendors in Delhi, India

Abstract

<jats:p>Microbial contamination of fruit juices has caused major outbreaks, leading to significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The inept hygiene and safety practices followed by the juice vendors are the leading risk factors of the microbial contamination of juices. In this pilot study, the five most crowded markets in urban Delhi, including Kamla Nagar, University of Delhi (north campus), Tilak Nagar, Chandni Chowk, and Rohini, were selected for a questionnaire survey on the fruit juice vendors and the sampling of water used for juice preparation as well as sugarcane, orange, and mix fruit juices collected from these markets for the enumeration of total bacterial count (TBC), Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using ampicillin, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and imipenem. The results indicated that the majority of the vendors were not following hygiene and safety practices when compared with the recommended standard safety practices. The use of municipal water by 95% of vendors with high TBC counts might have been the major source of microbial contamination in all types of fruit juices. E. coli and Salmonella contaminations were high in sugarcane (2 × 105 colony forming units (CFU)/mL) and mix fruit (2.2 × 105 CFU/mL) juice samples, respectively. On the other hand, Vibrio was found to be absent in almost all juice samples except for orange juice. All strains were found to be susceptible to chloramphenicol, but resistant to ampicillin and cefotaxime. Only a few strains were resistant to ciprofloxacin, and only E. coli strains were resistant to imipenem. Taken together, the overall microbiological standards of fruit juices served by street vendors were not within the acceptable limits, perhaps due to the poor quality of water used to prepare juices and poor hygiene and safety practices followed by the vendors. More importantly, the isolated microbes demonstrated resistance to ampicillin and cefotaxime, which may have pressing public health implications. Post hoc power analyses identified the minimum sample size required for 80% power.</jats:p>

Antibiotics Resistant Pattern of Bacteria Isolated from Spoiled Avocado Fruit Sold in Sokoto Metropolis

“…Among all antibiotics tested against bacterial species, E. coli isolates were found to have 10 (91%) and 9 (82%) resistance against ciprofloxacin and streptomycin, respectively. This was contrary to the finding of Sharma et al 28 , who reported lower resistance of E. coli isolated from Street Fruit Drinks made from avocado in Delhi, India, against ciprofloxacin. However, Kechero et al 13 also reported higher sensitivity of E. coli isolated in commonly consumed fruit juices and vegetable salads made from avocado sold in some fruit juice houses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, against ciprofloxacin.…”

Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistant Gram Negative Bacteria in the Street Vended Foods of Bangladesh: An Overview

“…The corresponding result was also observed in Delhi where Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Vibrio spp. isolated from different fruit juices exhibited a relatively higher resistance to ampicillin [40]. Apart from the Indian subcontinent, the outcome of this review is upheld by different studies conducted in Africa as well.…”

“…Therefore, it can be a reason for the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in street foods. Also, cross contamination can occur through water sources as street vendors frequently use municipal water for preparing fruit and for washing purposes [40]. Escherichia coli isolated from tap water collected from Dhaka, Jamalpur, Tangail, Netrokona, Kishoreganj showed resistance against tetracycline, erythromycin, amoxicillin, streptomycin and some other antibiotics [50,51].…”

Microbial quality and antimicrobial residue of local and industrial processed fruit juice sold in Tamale, Ghana

“…Freshly prepared fruit juice as being considered healthy, may not be the case in some instances due to contamination by microbes [2]. Commonly found microorganisms in street juice include, Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus spp., Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhi [3]. Factors that may contribute to microbial contamination of fruits juice ranges from contamination of fruits from the farm, handling, processing, packaging, and transportation, [4].…”