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 vendorsand hawkers has become an important public health issue. In Ethiopia, health risks related to such kindsof foods are thought to be common. Thus, this study has tried to determine the bacteriological quality ofready- to- eat foods sold on streets.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on street foods in Hawassa City from May toSeptember 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 countand 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 6colony-forming unit per gram (CFU/g) which is beyond the acceptable limits set for microbiologicalquality 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 bySalmonella species (12.7% and S.aureus (9.9%). All isolates were 100% sensitive to ciprofloxacin. About89% of Salmonella sp was resistant to chloramphenicol. Alarmingly, 14.3% of S.aureus was resistant tovancomycin.CONCLUSION: This study confirmed considerable rate of contamination in street vended foods inHawassa City. The identified foodborne bacteria and antibiotic resistance isolates could pose a publichealth problem in that locality. Therefore, regular inspection, health education and training of vendorson food handling and safety practices are recommended.