Assessment of microbiological quality of some selected street vended foods, vendor’s safety practices, knowledge, and attitudes in Dessie Town, Ethiopia

Street-vended foods are preferred for their convenience and affordability, yet unsanitary handling practices can raise the risk of microbial contamination. This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of some selected street foods, vendor's safety practices, knowledge, and attitudes in Dessie Town, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study involving 170 street food vendors that employed a structured questionnaire and observational checklist as data collection tools. A total of 75 food samples were collected from various locations in the town using sterile stomacher bags. The samples comprised 15 portions each of "Chips", "Sambusa", "Bonbolino", "Ambasha", and "Sweet potatoes". Every food sample was subjected to homogenization, serial dilution, and spread plating to detect microorganisms using standard microbiological techniques. The data was analyzed using SPSS software, version 20.00. The study revealed a predominance of female vendors (88.8%), and vendors lack awareness about spoiled food characteristics (94.1%). Surprisingly, a significant portion of vendors did not use gowns (68.8%) or gloves (82.4%) while vending. Most vendors 60.0% did not cover cooked food, and 58.8% of vending sites had dust or filth nearby. Regarding microbial quality, "Sambusa" had the highest mean count (1.23 × 10^{- 3} CFU/g) of aerobic mesophilic bacteria. "Bonbolino" and "Sweet Potato" showed Staphylococci counts of 2.61 × 10^{- 2} CFU/g and 2.64 × 10^{- 2} CFU/g, respectively. "Sweet potatoes" had the highest coliform count (2.4 × 10^{- 2} CFU/g), while "Ambasha" exhibited the highest Salmonella count (3 × 10^{- 2} CFU/g). Vis-a-vis the study points, the finding indicated that the bus station had the highest aerobic mesophilic bacteria count (1.12 × 10^{- 3} CFU/g), while Kelem meda, Piasa, and Segno gebeya recorded the highest Staphylococcus counts. Regarding the antibacterial susceptibility profiles, Salmonella has shown susceptibility to most antibiotics tested, such as Amoxicillin and Cefradine, but has been found resistant to Oxacillin. Conversely, E. coli has exhibited resistance to all antibiotics except for Gentamicin. Given the concerns observed in microbiological quality and safety issues of street vended foods in Dessie Town, it is crucial to introduce inclusive training programs for vendors.