Background: Ready-to-eat foods are those that are ordinarily consumed in the same state as they are sold, and these do not include nuts, raw fruits, or vegetables that are intended for hulling, shedding, or washing by the consumer. Objective: The specific objectives of microbiological analysis of ready-to-eat foods include determining the susceptibility patterns of the isolates obtained from RTE foods against antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. Method: A prospective cross-sectional study is done on 39 street food samples. A culture of the samples collected was performed, and the organisms isolated were thus identified using standard biochemical methods. Finally, antibiotic sensitivity was tested against conventionally used antibiotics by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 20. Results: Out of 39 street RTE-food samples, 24 (61.5%) samples showed positive growth, and 15 (38.5%) samples showed negative growth. Among samples with positive growth, samples of shingara, vegetable roll, dal-puri, shamocha, and burger were 7 (29.0%), 6 (25.0%), 5 (21.0%), 3 (13.0%), and 3 (13.0%), respectively. Bacterial contaminants were Serratia spp. 8 (33.0%), followed by E. coli 5 (21.0%), Pseudomonas spp. 5 (21.0%), Staphylococcus aureus 3 (13.0%), and Enterobacter spp. 3 (13.0%). Most of the isolates were found to be 100% resistant to amoxicillin, but E. coli is only 80% resistant. The bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas spp., Serratia spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacter spp. were 100% sensitive to gentamycin and ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: The bacterial load of ready-to-eat foods sold within Enayetpur town could pose a substantial risk to its consumers.
Keywords: Ready-to-eat foods, quality, risk, Enayetpur town, bacterial isolates, antimicrobial patterns
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61921/kyauj.v06i01.010
31-Aug-2024
