Assessment of the Sanitary Conditions of Food Establishments in Mekelle Town
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2005-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
In Mekelle town the number of catering establishments is increasing from time to time like
other towns of the country. Different efforts are undergoing to prevent and/or avoid the
incidence of foodborne diseases that can arise from food service establishments. However, the
sanitary condition is not known since no systematic study was carried out to assess the
condition. Thus, this study was designed to determine the sanitary conditions of mass catering
establishments in Mekelle town.
A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2004 to January 2005. A census was
employed to obtain the list of catering establishments. Four hundred twenty two (422)
establishments were recruited for the study from the total 546 establishments by simple
random selection technique. Standardized and structured questionnaire was used to gather
information. Bacteriological examination of food utensils from randomly selected 88
establishments was made. Standard swab sample collection and laboratory procedures were
employed. Epi Info version 6 was implemented for data management.
The findings of the study showed that 91% of the establishments have license, 65.7% were
found operating their business in rented buildings and 83.8% of the managers/owners were
literate. Sixty two percent of the floor and 54.4% of the walls and ceilings of the kitchens
were found in good repair condition. Toilet, hand washing lavatories, proper solid waste
receptacles and privately owned tap water supply were available in 96.9%, 57.1%, 39.2% and
93.6% of the
establishments, respectively. Ineffective dish washing practice, improper food stuff and food
utensil storage, poor personal hygiene and food handling practices of food handlers were also
the major deficiencies observed. Of all the bacteriological tested, 44.3% were found with
v
aerobic mesophilic bacteria above the acceptable level (>100 colonies/utensil) and 45.5%
were grossly contaminated (> 50 fecal coliform/100ml). Staphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli were also isolated from 27.3% and 18.2% of the swabbed food utensils.
In conclusion large numbers of mass catering establishments were found with poor sanitary
condition and major deficiencies of the premises. The knowledge and practice of food
handlers were also found unsatisfactory. In addition the laboratory results of swabbed utensils
revealed the ineffectiveness of washing, sanitizing, handling and storage system. Therefore,
the likelihood of food contamination is very high. Promoting and improving the standard
sanitary requirements through regulatory activity, regular sanitary inspection focusing on
education and motivation of owners and food handlers as well as an integrated work with
other relevant sectors, is recommended.
Keywords: Sanitary condition, catering, food utensils, swab test
Description
Keywords
Sanitary condition, catering, food utensils, swab test