Microbiological Analyses of beverages: in natura orange juice, sugar cane and coffee produced and sold in streets of Sao Paulo.

Abstract

Food and beverages products sold in street are a growing global trend. In natura products have recognized nutritional and functional proprieties; on the other hand, its sanitary aspects are a crucial concern because of the risk of food‐borne diseases, due to the lack of minimal structure at manipulating the foods.ObjectiveTo evaluate the microbiological quality of in natura beverages: juice, coffee and sugar cane produced and sold in streets.MethodsIt has been collected four samples of each product (orange juice, coffee and sugar cane) in the streets near the subway downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. It has been immediately analyzed for microbial burden, fungi and yeasts, fecal and thermotolerant coliforms, and Enterobacteriaceae Salmonella and Shigella.ResultsTotal coliforms have been shown in all samples, in contrast to fecal ones. Staphylococcus aureus have been observed in sugar cane. Streptococci beta‐haemolytic were absence in all samples, but alpha‐haemolytic were in sugar cane and in orange juice. In all cases the count of aerobic mesophilic was bigger then 106.ConclusionThese results indicate the unsatisfactory microbiological quality for human intake, that denotes the lack of basic knowledge about manipulation of food and the relevant application of that.