Microbial safety of ready-to-eat food sold by retailers in Thohoyandou, Limpopo province, South Africa

AbstractProblems of foodborne diseases relating to the microbiological quality/safety of food continue to be of big concern globally. The study was undertaken to assess the microbial safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods sold in retailers around Thohoyandou, Limpopo province, South Africa. A total of 96 RTE food products were purchased from four (4) different retailers and transported to a laboratory for analysis. Food handling practices, personal hygiene and pest control measures were observed and recorded. To enumerate Coliform, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, total plate count, Yeasts and Moulds serial dilution of (10−1 − 10−5) and pour plate/spread method were employed. The checklist on the retailers revealed that they followed good manufacturing practice and good personal hygiene expect retailer 4. Microbial counts for all samples ranged from 1.10 to 3.95 log x cfu/g. Bacillus cereus and yeasts counts for all samples ranged from 1.71 to 3.95 and 1.43 to 3.73 log x cfu/g, respectively. S. aureus and coliforms mean counts ranged from 1.10 to 2.68 and 1.53 to 3.58 log x cfu/g. Total plate count ranged from 2.12 to 3.91 log x cfu/g for all the retailers. Moulds and Salmonella were not detected in all the samples tested. Indole test confirmed positive E. coli and citrate test confirmed positive for S. aureus and B. cereus. Mean counts of some microorganisms were above satisfactory microbial limits, and this may pose hazard to public health