Assessment of Bacteriological Quality of Street Food and Their Antibiotic Profiling

Abstract

The microbial contamination of street foods has become an important public health issue in developing countries like India because of widespread food borne diseases. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the bacteriological quality of street foods. A total of 120 samples (104 were street food samples and 16 were dish washing water samples) was collected and analyzed for total viable count (TVC). The isolation of pathogens was carried out on selective and differential media and was further identified on the basis of morphology and biochemical tests. Similarly, antibiotic profiling was performed by disk diffusion method. The results suggest that the highest TVC was found to be in panipuri (4.5±1.72×105 cfu/ml) followed by samosa (3.8±0.97×105 cfu/g), bhelpuri (3.2±0.77×105 cfu/g) and poha (3.1±0.78×105 cfu/g) while kachori samples showed least count (2.8±0.97×105 cfu/g). Similarly, the TVC of dish washing water (DWW) samples was 5.32±1.66×105 cfu/ml. Out of 120, 68 samples (56.67%) were found to be contaminated with S. aureus followed by E. coli (50%), Enterobacter sp. (36.67%), P. aeruginosa (26.67%) whereas Salmonella sp. was found in 20 samples (16.67%). The antibiotic susceptibility results suggest that S. aureus, E.coli and Enterobacter sp. showed 55%, 29.63% and 15.38% resistance to aztreonam while E. coli and Enterobacter sp. showed 7.41 % and 23.08% resistance to vancomycin and gatifloxacin respectively. These findings indicate considerable rate of contamination in street foods and DWW. The identified foodborne bacteria and antibiotics resistance isolates could pose a public health problem in that locality. Therefore, regular inspection, health education and training of vendors on food handling and safety practices are recommended.