Microbiological quality assessment of fresh produce: Potential health risk to children and urgent need for improved food safety in school feeding schemes

Abstract

About 388 million school‐going children worldwide benefit from school feeding schemes, which make use of fresh produce to prepare meals. Fresh produce including leafy greens and other vegetables were served at 37% and 31% of school feeding programs, respectively, in Africa. This study aimed at assessing the microbiological quality of fresh produce grown onsite or supplied to South African schools that are part of the national school feeding programs that benefit over 9 million school‐going children. Coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, and Staphylococcus aureus were enumerated from fresh produce (n = 321) samples. The occurrence of E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase (ESBL)‐producing Enterobacteriaceae was determined. Presumptive pathogens were tested for antimicrobial resistance. E. coli was further tested for diarrheagenic virulence genes. Enterobacteriaceae on 62.5% of fresh produce samples (200/321) exceeded previous microbiological guidelines for ready‐to‐eat food, while 86% (276/321 samples) and 31.6% (101/321 samples) exceeded coliform and E. coli criteria, respectively. A total of 76 Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from fresh produce including E. coli (n = 43), Enterobacter spp. (n = 15), and Klebsiella spp. (n = 18). Extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase production was confirmed in 11 E. coli, 13 Enterobacter spp., and 17 Klebsiella spp. isolates. No diarrheagenic virulence genes were detected in E. coli isolates. However, multidrug resistance (MDR) was found in 60.5% (26/43) of the E. coli isolates, while all (100%; n = 41) of the confirmed ESBL and AmpC Enterobacteriaceae showed MDR. Our study indicates the reality of the potential health risk that contaminated fresh produce may pose to school‐going children, especially with the growing food safety challenges and antimicrobial resistance crisis globally. This also shows that improved food safety approaches to prevent foodborne illness and the spread of foodborne pathogens through the food served by school feeding schemes are necessary.

Escherichia coli isolates from vegetable farms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Antimicrobial susceptibility profile and associated resistance genetic markers

“…This variation could be due to the difference in geographical location of the study areas and variation in the number and types of antimicrobials used in animals. Interestingly, similar levels of MDR were reported in a study from South Africa: 61.5% (Fatoba et al., 2022 ) and 60.5% (Msimango et al., 2023 ). From the four sub‐cities, more MDR E. coli isolates were obtained from the Akaki Kality sub‐city.…”

Mixture design of α‐pinene, α‐terpineol, and 1,8‐cineole: A multiobjective response followed by chemometric approaches to optimize the antibacterial effect against various bacteria and antioxidant activity

“…Microbial foodborne diseases become more aggressive every year, and foodborne pathogens become increasingly resistant (Kim et al., 2019 ; Msimango et al., 2023 ; Serwecińska, 2020 ). Food poisoning and infectious illnesses caused by the consumption of spoiled food are the two main categories of foodborne bacterial diseases (Brandão et al., 2023 ; Hoffmann & Scallan, 2017 ).…”