Microbial quality of street prepared and vended snacks in Umuahia town, South East Nigeria

The study evaluated the microbial characteristics of street prepared and vended snacks as well as their production environment at different locations in Umuahia, Abia State. Twenty-five (25) samples of puff-puffs, buns and fish rolls as well as swaps from production tables and surrounding floors were randomly sampled from five locations within Umuahia town using the stratified random sampling procedure. One sample each of fish roll, buns, puff-puff, swab from tables and swab from floors were further randomly selected and subjected to microbial analysis using standard microbiological methods for the determination of total viable count, fungi count, Lactobacillus count, Staphylococcus, total coliform count, Salmonella/Shigella count, and Streptococcus count. Discoveries were that the snacks collected contained different microorganisms ranging from food grade types such as lactic acid bacteria to highly pathogenic types such as Staphylococcus aureus. Total viable count (28.01a×106 - 60.70c×106), fungi count (15.56a×106 - 37.35c×106), and Lactobacillus count (9.34ab×106 - 12.45c×106) were above acceptable limits; Staphylococcus was detected only in puff-puff (12.45a×106 cfu/g); total coliform count, Salmonella/Shigella count and Streptococcus count were not detected in all the snacks. Most of the microbial characteristics assessed such as total viable count (37.45a×106 - 62.25a×106) and Staphylococcus aureus (7.78a×106 - 21.0a×106 cfu/g) were present above acceptable limits both in the floor and service table; only Lactobacillus and Coliform were not detected in the floor and service table respectively. The study indicates poor microbial quality of the street-vended food and a highly contaminated production environment posing significant risks of food borne illness, and suggests a need for improved hygiene practices, monitoring and enforcement of food safety regulations.