ASSESSMENT OF THE MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY IN STREET FOOD VENDING IN LOCAL MARKET OF ITAHARI MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

A study to assess the microbiological status of street foods (ready-to-eat foods and beverages) sold in local market of Itahari municipality was carried out. Eight different samples of each six various street foods along with eight water samples were collected and analysed. Microbiological analysis revealed the average TPC to be 3.00x102 , 6.22x105 , 1.73x105 , 4.62x103 , 7.44x103 and 6.51x105 cfu/g in momo, chatpate, panipuri, aluchop, pyaji and dahibada samples respectively. Similarly, the total coliform counts were 1.64x101 , 1.14x104 , 8.14x103 , 3.78x102 , 9.03x102 and 9.08x103 cfu/g in momo, chatpate, panipuri, aluchop, pyaji and dahibada samples respectively. Salmonella was not detected in any of the samples. The average value for the total plate count and total coliform count of water samples were found to be 1.28x102 and 3.74x101 cfu/g respectively. Microbiological analysis also showed that 8.3% of samples had unsatisfactory quality in total plate count and 89.6% in coliform count. There were significant differences in microbial load within the samples and sample types collected from different locations, indicating the hygienic practice (keeping other things constant) in the street food stalls being significantly different.