Bacteriological assessment on ready-to-eat salad sold in some fast food centers in Azare town, Bauchi State, Nigeria

AISHATU ABUBAKAR; TABITHA JOSHUA

doi:10.54117/gjpas.v1i1.23

Authors

AISHATU ABUBAKAR Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Bauchi State University, Gadau. P.M.B 06, Gadau, Nigeria
TABITHA JOSHUA Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Bauchi State University, Gadau. P.M.B 06, Gadau, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54117/gjpas.v1i1.23

Keywords:

Ready-To-Eat, Salad, Bacteriological Assessment, Pathogenic micro-organisms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Food

Abstract

Eating food that is contaminated by bacteria is one of the main reasons for food poisoning. Food poisoning can be caused by several bacterial species that are present on the raw vegetables and fruits and also in the dairy products that are used in the salad dressings and toppings. This study was carried out to isolate and identify pathogenic micro-organisms associated with ready-to-eat salads obtained from selected fast food centers in Azare town of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Samples of salads were collected from randomly selected locations within the town and subjected to microbial culture in Nutrient and MacConkey agar media for isolation of bacteria. Three bacterial species were isolated, namely; Salmonella Spp, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The total colony count ranged from 3.01x10¹cfu/g to1.5x 10³cfu/g respectively. The order of increasing colony count of bacteria isolated was Salmonella Spp, E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The results from the studies showed that ready-to-eat salads samples obtained from the fast food centers have high microbial load and as such do not meet bacteriological standards. Therefore, consumption of such products may pose public health problem. It is therefore recommended that the total hygiene and sanitary conditions under which those fast foods centers operates should be monitored by the relevant Government agencies and stringent supervision of processing methods are applied.

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