MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF JOLLOF RICE FROM SELECTED RESTAURANTS IN TARAUNI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Food has been particularly described as a vehicle for the transmission of microbial disease. Reasons such as absence from home while traveling, studying, and at work have led to many individuals resorting to buy poorly processed food from restaurants. This study aimed to isolate and characterize bacteria in Follow rice sold in five different restaurants in Tarauni Local Government Area, Kano State. All media were prepared following the manufacturer’s instructions. Total aerobic bacterial and fungal counts were performed, followed by gram staining and biochemical characterization of the isolates. The total aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 1.7x103–2.3x103 cfu/g, while the fungal counts ranged from 0.2x102–1.3x102 cfu/g. After the morphological and biochemical characterization of the isolates, different bacteria, such as Bacillus spp., Klebsiella spp., Escherichia coli, and Proteus spp., were identified. The fungi isolated included Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Saccharomyces, and Penicillium spp. Hence, the number of microbial loads was significantly low to cause health effects.