Identifying and Enumeration of the Microbiological Contamination of Shawarma Sandwich Samples in Various Dohuk City Restaurants

This study was performed to determine the total number of viable bacteria and to determine the contamination of microbial isolates in shawarma sandwich samples from 10 restaurants in the city of Duhuk. By collecting 100 samples of shawarma from 10 restaurants, 5 of which are open and the other 5 are closed restaurants. The results showed that the Shawarma samples, restaurant buildings, equipment, and employees were contaminated with total viable microbial counts of. E. coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella and fungi which were in the Shawarma samples on average above acceptable standards for human consumption, except for the Shawarma samples from the restaurant F2 posted above Microbial counts They were log 5.30, 0.0, 4.5, 0.0 and 0.0 CFU/g, respectively. Identification of microbial isolates showed that Shawarma samples were contaminated with different species of bacteria, and yeasts, after assay the morphological, microscopic and biochemical characterization, they appeared as Staphylococcus sp., Salmonella sp., E.coli, Klebsiella sp., and Pseudomonas sp. From the results, they concluded that the samples from the restaurants were contaminated with various microorganisms at levels not permitted for human consumption. Contamination from restaurant buildings, equipment, and employees was also found to have a significant effect on increasing contamination levels in Shawarma samples.