Bacteriological Quality of Street Foods and Antimicrobial Resistance of Isolates in Hawassa, Ethiopia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Microbial contamination of ready-to-eat foods and beverages sold by street vendors and hawkers has become an important public health issue. In Ethiopia, health risks related to such kinds of foods are thought to be common. Thus, this study has tried to determine the bacteriological quality of ready-to-eat foods sold on streets. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on street foods in Hawassa City from May to September 2014. A total of 72 samples from six food items such as local bread ('ambasha' and'kita'), raw fish, chilli ('awaze'), avocado and cooked potato were collected. Bacterial isolation, colony count and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were made following standard microbiological techniques. RESULTS: About 31% of the food samples showed total colony counts ranging from 1.7x10 5 to 6.7x10 6 colony-forming unit per gram (CFU/g) which is beyond the acceptable limits set for microbiological quality of ready-to -eat foods. The mean coliform and Enterobacteriaceae counts in raw fish, 'kita' and 'ambasha' were also higher than the limits. E.coli was the most frequent isolate (29.6%) followed by Salmonella species (12.7% and S.aureus (9.9%). All isolates were 100% sensitive to ciprofloxacin. About 89% of Salmonella sp was resistant to chloramphenicol. Alarmingly, 14.3% of S.aureus was resistant to vancomycin. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed considerable rate of contamination in street vended foods in Hawassa City. The identified foodborne bacteria and antibiotic resistance isolates could pose a public health problem in that locality. Therefore, regular inspection, health education and training of vendors on food handling and safety practices are recommended.

Bacteriological quality and the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and E. coli O157:H7 in ready‐to‐eat foods from Barbados, WI

“…while Study 2 was a broader study which assessed the prevalence of Salmonella, E. coli, and the sanitary quality of RTE foods. The finding of a prevalence of 1.5% S. Enteritidis in study 1 and 1.7% E. coli and 0.0% E. coli O157:H7 and S. Enteritidis in Study 2, is lower than the prevalence rates of Salmonella (2.0-19.7%) and E. coli (6.0-51.5%), reported from Africa (Cardinale et al, 2015;Eromo et al, 2016;Mosupye & von Holy, 1999;Muhammad et al, 2016;Wolde Bereda, Emerie, Reta, & Asfaw, 2016). It is also lower than the prevalence of E. coli (4.1%) and Salmonella (4%) reported from South Korea (Chung, Kim, & Ha, 2010), while comparable with the prevalence data reported for the United States (Levine, Rose, Green, Ransom, & Hill, 2001) and Trinidad and Tobago (Hosein et al, 2008).…”

“…Enteritidis was isolated from fresh salad and starches and not from fish/seafood and meats. Similarly, several authors in Turkey, Ethiopia, and Nigeria have documented the isolation of Salmonella from fresh vegetables and salads with frequencies ranging from 5 to 27% (Agu, Orji, Onuorah, & Anyaegbunam, ; Eromo et al, ; Gurler, Pamuk, Yildirim, & Ertas, ; López‐Campos, Martínez‐Suárez, Aguado‐Urda, & López‐Alonso, ; Wolde, Abate, Sileshi, & Mekonnen, ). In contrast to these findings, a study conducted on RTE foods in Mexico isolated Salmonella most frequently from cooked pork (4.5%) and cooked chicken (3.7%) followed by fresh fruit juices (4%; Zaidi et al, ).…”

“…Ready‐to‐eat (RTE) foods are defined as raw, cooked, hot, or chilled foods which can be consumed without further heat‐treatment and are ready for immediate consumption at the point of sale (Centre for Food Safety, ). Such foods can become contaminated with enteric pathogens from human and animal wastes; or through cross‐contamination (Eromo, Tassew, Daka, & Kibru, ; Muhammad, Yaro, Balarabe, Zainab, & Adedayo, ; Nyenje, Odjadjare, Tanih, Green, & Ndip, ). One such pathogen is Salmonella , which has emerged as the most common bacterial cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, associated with consumption of raw eggs and undercooked chicken.…”

Microbial quality and antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial isolates in “Tuo‐Zaafi” vended in the central business district of tamale

“…(2016) where all isolates were also 100% sensitive to ciprofloxacin. 100% of the isolates were resistant to gentamycin which again contradicts the results of Temesgen et al (2016) which reported 100% of the isolates being susceptible to gentamycin. The fact that bacterial isolates were susceptible to some antibiotics is an indication that the antibiotics remain the drug of choice for the management of most foodborne diseases (Temesgen et al, 2016).…”

Microbiological safety of ready‐to‐eat foods in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A comprehensive 10‐year (2009 to 2018) review

“…In addition, Biswas, Parvez, Shafiquzzaman, Nahar, and Rahman (2010) and Yannick, Rawlings, & Emmanuela (2013) reported the presence of E. coli in RTE meat from Bangladesh (Asia) and Cameroon (Central Africa), respectively, whereas diarrheagenic E. coli strains were recovered from grilled chicken in Burkina Faso (West Africa) (Somda et al, 2018). Similarly, Pseudomonas was detected in street-vended juice in Pakistan, (Batool, Tahir, Rauf, & Kalsoom, 2013), whereas in Bangladesh (Asia) and Ethiopia, Klebsiella was found to contaminate chotpoti and ambasha, respectively (Eromo, Tassew, Daka, & Kibru, 2016;Hassan et al, 2016).…”