The study presents an investigation of the microbiological safety of cooked vended foods in an urban informal market in Harare, Zimbabwe. Analyses were performed on 200 samples of mostly vended ready to eat foodstuffs (comprising chicken and beef stew, egg rolls, doughnuts and boiled mealie cobs) between the month of October and November 2012. Samples were analyzed against different types of indicator micro-organisms namely total aerobics, coliforms and Escherichia coli and pathogens (Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus). Significantly, early morning samples were less contaminated than afternoon samples (p<0.05). No Salmonella spp. was detected in any of the foodstuffs analysed, though S. aureus and E.coli were present (respectively ranges from 3-62x102 cfu/g and 6-49x101 cfu/g). Respectively, nearly 85.5% and 53% of the samples were highly contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli. Correspondingly, total aerobic plate count ranged from 11-172x103cfu/g, while coliform count ranged from 8-85 x102 cfu/g. Subsequently, the study showed that informally vended foods might contain pathogenic microorganisms which signify a risk for human health. The importance of adequate measures to guarantee food safety was underscored.
Published in | International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24 |
Page(s) | 216-221 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Indicator Microorganisms, Pathogens, Street Vended Foods, Contamination, Food Safety
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APA Style
Raphael Kwiri, Clive Winini, Jeritah Tongonya, Wishmore Gwala, Enock Mpofu, et al. (2014). Microbiological Safety of Cooked Vended Foods in an Urban Informal Market: A Case Study of Mbare Msika, Harare, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 3(3), 216-221. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24
ACS Style
Raphael Kwiri; Clive Winini; Jeritah Tongonya; Wishmore Gwala; Enock Mpofu, et al. Microbiological Safety of Cooked Vended Foods in an Urban Informal Market: A Case Study of Mbare Msika, Harare, Zimbabwe. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2014, 3(3), 216-221. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24
AMA Style
Raphael Kwiri, Clive Winini, Jeritah Tongonya, Wishmore Gwala, Enock Mpofu, et al. Microbiological Safety of Cooked Vended Foods in an Urban Informal Market: A Case Study of Mbare Msika, Harare, Zimbabwe. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2014;3(3):216-221. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24
@article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24, author = {Raphael Kwiri and Clive Winini and Jeritah Tongonya and Wishmore Gwala and Enock Mpofu and Felix Mujuru and Shannon T. Gwala and Lydia Makarichi and Perkins Muredzi}, title = {Microbiological Safety of Cooked Vended Foods in an Urban Informal Market: A Case Study of Mbare Msika, Harare, Zimbabwe}, journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences}, volume = {3}, number = {3}, pages = {216-221}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20140303.24}, abstract = {The study presents an investigation of the microbiological safety of cooked vended foods in an urban informal market in Harare, Zimbabwe. Analyses were performed on 200 samples of mostly vended ready to eat foodstuffs (comprising chicken and beef stew, egg rolls, doughnuts and boiled mealie cobs) between the month of October and November 2012. Samples were analyzed against different types of indicator micro-organisms namely total aerobics, coliforms and Escherichia coli and pathogens (Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus). Significantly, early morning samples were less contaminated than afternoon samples (p<0.05). No Salmonella spp. was detected in any of the foodstuffs analysed, though S. aureus and E.coli were present (respectively ranges from 3-62x102 cfu/g and 6-49x101 cfu/g). Respectively, nearly 85.5% and 53% of the samples were highly contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli. Correspondingly, total aerobic plate count ranged from 11-172x103cfu/g, while coliform count ranged from 8-85 x102 cfu/g. Subsequently, the study showed that informally vended foods might contain pathogenic microorganisms which signify a risk for human health. The importance of adequate measures to guarantee food safety was underscored.}, year = {2014} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Microbiological Safety of Cooked Vended Foods in an Urban Informal Market: A Case Study of Mbare Msika, Harare, Zimbabwe AU - Raphael Kwiri AU - Clive Winini AU - Jeritah Tongonya AU - Wishmore Gwala AU - Enock Mpofu AU - Felix Mujuru AU - Shannon T. Gwala AU - Lydia Makarichi AU - Perkins Muredzi Y1 - 2014/05/30 PY - 2014 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24 DO - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24 T2 - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JF - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JO - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences SP - 216 EP - 221 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2327-2716 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140303.24 AB - The study presents an investigation of the microbiological safety of cooked vended foods in an urban informal market in Harare, Zimbabwe. Analyses were performed on 200 samples of mostly vended ready to eat foodstuffs (comprising chicken and beef stew, egg rolls, doughnuts and boiled mealie cobs) between the month of October and November 2012. Samples were analyzed against different types of indicator micro-organisms namely total aerobics, coliforms and Escherichia coli and pathogens (Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus). Significantly, early morning samples were less contaminated than afternoon samples (p<0.05). No Salmonella spp. was detected in any of the foodstuffs analysed, though S. aureus and E.coli were present (respectively ranges from 3-62x102 cfu/g and 6-49x101 cfu/g). Respectively, nearly 85.5% and 53% of the samples were highly contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli. Correspondingly, total aerobic plate count ranged from 11-172x103cfu/g, while coliform count ranged from 8-85 x102 cfu/g. Subsequently, the study showed that informally vended foods might contain pathogenic microorganisms which signify a risk for human health. The importance of adequate measures to guarantee food safety was underscored. VL - 3 IS - 3 ER -