Microbiological Quality of Street-Vended Foods and Ready-To-

Microbiological quality and safety of street foods and ready-to-eat vegetables were assessed in some cities in Nigeria in order to ascertain their hygienic status. The foods include cooked rice, boiled and roasted maize, plantain chips, puff-puff, lettuce, cabbage, spring onions, cucumber, carrot and tomatoes. Standard microbiological procedures and techniques were used to enumerate, isolate, identify and characterize the different microorganisms associated with the foods assessed. The average holding temperature (0C) of foods sold hot ranged from 510C – 700C, and for foods sold cold ranged from 250C – 350C. Average aerobic bacteria for hot foods ranged between 2.4 x 104 – 2.0 x 106 while cold foods ranged between 2.2- 5.5 x 105