Evaluation of the Safety of Commonly Sold Yoghurts in UYO Metropolis

Abstract

Yogurt is an important nutritional diary product consumed in different forms by people irrespective of age, sex and socio-economic status. However, reports of food poisoning often associated with its consumption lead to this research which aimed at evaluating the safety of the commonly consumed yogurt brands in Uyo Metropolis of Nigeria. Several sachets of frozen yoghurt from 14 different brands were collected randomly at different locations in Uyo Metropolis in Nigeria. These samples were allowed to thaw, and aseptically aspirated for microbiological analysis, detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli), gram staining, and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Results show that E. coli was isolated from four (4) brands (29%) of the samples, and all the detected E. coli were gram negative rods. The isolated E. coli were susceptible to peflacin, streptomycin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and augmentin. Some of the E. coli were however resistant to nalidixic acid, gentamycin, septrin, ceporex, while all the samples were resistant gentamicin, septrin and ampicillin. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that Uyo Metropolis is at serious risk of E. coli infection because of its isolation from some finished yoghurt products in circulation, and which could be resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.