Microbiological Quality and Safety of Street Vended Rawmeat in Jijiga town of Somali Regional State, Ethiopia.
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Date
2011-05-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study was aimed to assess the microbial quality and safety of street vended raw meats in Jijiga
town of Ethiopia. Questionnaire was used to assess the socio-demographic characteristics and
knowledge of raw meat vendors about food safety from randomly selected 33 vendors. Visual
assessment was also made. A total of 60 raw meat samples containing 30 raw beef and 30 raw goat
meat samples were collected for microbiological analysis. The pH and holding temperature of the
meat were measured. The microbial load was analyzed in terms of counts of aerobic mesophiles,
Enterobacteriacea, Coliforms, Staphylococci, Lactic acid bacteria, Yeasts and Moulds using standard
methods . Furthermore, the aerobic mesophilic flora of the samples was characterized to different
genera and bacterial groups. The presence Salmonella was also determined. Survey indicated that
78.8% of vendors were females and only 30.3% of the vendors were literate. The majority (58%) were
in the age of 26-41. None them had working garment. 27% and 33% had untrimmed (unclean) nails
and unclean clothing (body parts) respectively. Wear of jewelries (70%) and finger nail painting
(76%) were also observed. Vendors had different degree of awareness about food safety, sources of
contamination and food borne diseases. The sanitary condition of the vending environment was not
also satisfactory. Basic sanitary facilities were not available. The mean pH values were 6.03 and 5.2
for beef meat and goat meat samples respectively the samples were held in a temperature range of
17.5-27.5°C at the time of vending. Beef meat and goat meat samples had mean aerobic mesophilic
counts >7logcfu/g. Enterobacteriacea and coliforms were frequently encountered in all samples and
both of the varieties had mean counts for both microbial groups > 4logcfu/g. Both species of meat had
mean staphylococci counts > 6logcfu/g. Both meat types had mean counts of lactic acid bacteria,
yeasts and moulds 4logcfu/g. The aerobic plate counts were dominated by Staphylococcus spp.
followed by Enterobacteriacea and other Gram positive rods. Salmonellae were also isolated from
5(8.3 %) raw meat samples. One-way ANOVA revealed as there were significant differences (P<0.05)
between goat and beef samples in aerobic plate count and staphylococci counts. In general the
samples harbored high counts of microorganisms. This might be attributed to unhygienic and
improper handling, processing and storage. Training and inspections are important. More over,
provision of basic infrastructures and establishment of code of practice for the sector are also
recommended.
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Keywords
Jijiga, Raw Meat, Street Vendors, Quality, Safety