Bacterial Burden of Vegetables Salad Sold in Some Fast Food Centers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Introduction: The demand for vegetables salad is high because it contains essential ingredients good for health. Its importance in diets is advocated by nutritionists but the consumer may be exposed to risk such as infection. Pathogens may contaminate raw vegetables and cause food borne illness or outbreak.

Aim: The aim of this work is to isolate and identify bacteria associated with vegetables salad in Port Harcourt.

Methodology: A total of 100 samples of ready to eat vegetables salad were examined, ten (10) samples were purchased from each fast food centre. Out of the 10 samples, five (5) were purchased in the morning, while 5 were purchased in the afternoon. In a wide mouth sterile glass container, 10g of vegetables salad were added to 90mL of prepared sterile normal saline and subsequent serial dilution were made by adding 1ml to 9ml of diluents to 103 and 0.1ml of last dilutions were plated by spread plate technique on both nutrient and MacConkey agar. The plates were incubated 370C for 18-24 hours and examined for growth.

Results: The bacteria isolated from vegetables salad were Staphylococcus aureus (45%), Escherichia coli (36%) and Bacillus sp (18%) respectively. The percentage occurrences of bacteria isolated in morning were 35.6% whereas the isolates in afternoon were 64.4%. The viable count from the vegetables salad ranged from 2x103 to 6.5 x103 cfu/mL

Conclusion: Vegetables meant for preparation of vegetables salad should be properly washed with good water and handled hygienically to avoid contamination. Prepared vegetables salad should be consumed shortly after preparation to avoid multiplication of contaminating bacteria.