Microbial Profile Testing of Ready-to-eat Street Vended Foods Collected from Different University Premises

Abstract

"Street foods" describes as a wide range of ready-to-eat foods and beverages sold and sometimes prepared in public places, notably streets. The objective of this study was to isolate, identify and test microbial profile of enteric bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Shigella spp, Salmonella spp and Vibrio spp) in different street vended foods collected from different private universities in Dhaka city. Thirty food samples were collected from fixed and mobile vendors from area around 10 private universities in Dhaka city. The tested samples were laddu, singara, somucha jhal-muri, fuchka, vhel-puri, panipuri, bun, cake, danish, chola, peaju, sweet, sheek-kabab, etc. Sterile polythene bags were used to collect 3 different samples each day from each university. They were tested for the presence of microorganisms following conventional microbiological processes. Biochemical tests were done for the confirmation of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Shigella spp, Salmonella and Vibrio spp. Out of 30 foodsamples, six (60%) were suspected to contain Klebsiella spp, three (30%) were suspected to contain Escherichia coli, and one (10%) was suspected to contain Vibrio spp. All these enteric pathogens could be the potential cause for foodborne illnesses and provision of education to the vendors would improve quality of street foods