Food borne diseases are of great concern globally especially in the developing countries where poor sanitation is applied during collection and processing of milk from animals. The epidemiological investigation, serotypes and distribution of verocytotoxin (VTI and VT2)- producing Escherichia coli in raw milk and milk products were determined using structured questionnaire, Cefixime tellurite-sorbitol MacConkey agar, agglutination kits and VTEC-RPLA Toxin detection Kit. Out of 27 milkers, 7.4 % had primary education, 22.2 % washed the milk utensils with cold water and soap, 11.1 % washed their hands before milking, while 7.4 % milkers washed the udder of the animals before milking. All the yoghurts had the product names; 85.7 % had NAFDAC numbers; 80.0% had Batch Numbers, while 71.4 % had Manufacturer s’ Addresses. The unpasteurized milk samples had E. coli 0157 and non 0157 E. coli counts (CFU.ml-1) ranging from 4.0 x 102 to 1.7 x 103 and 6.0 x 102 to 2.0 x 103 , respectively, while E. coli 0157 and non 0157 E. coli counts of milk products were between 1.0 x 102 and 1.0 x 103 CFU.ml-1. E. coli 0157 had the highest percentage occurrence (38.3%), while E. coli 0145 had the lowest percentage occurrence (2.1%). More than 38.3% of the E. coli serotypes produced VT2, while ≥ 12.8% were VT1 producers. The occurrence of VTEC in the unpasteurized milk shows that the milkers should be enlightened on the necessary sanitary practices to adopt during milking and also post-pasteurization contamination of milk products should be avoided. Key Words: Verotoxigenic, Escherichia coli, Milk, Yoghurt, Nono, Serotypes.

Shell fishes constitute a vital source of food for humans due to its high nutritional values. Bacteriological and nutritional assessments of Galatea paradoxa treated with Citrus aurantifolia and NaCl were determined using bacteriological and analytical protocols. The results revealed a reduction from 4.845 to 2.301 Log CFU/g in Total  Heterotrophic  Bacterial Counts (THBC) in G. paradoxa treated with 10% NaCl for 5 mins. The G. paradoxa treated with 7.5 % NaCl for 5 min had a reduction in Total Coliform Counts (TCC) ranging from 3.903 to 2.398 Log CFU/g, while Total Faecal Coliform Counts (TFC) in G. paradoxa treated with 5 % and 10 % for 10 min reduced by 99.99 %. There was 53.46% THBC reduction in G. paradoxa treated with 10% C. aurantifolia for 5 min; THBC in G. paradoxa treated with 10% C. aurantifolia for 10 min reduced by 79.36 %; THBC in G. paradoxa treated with 10 % equal concentrations of NaCl and C. aurantifolia decreased by 99.99 % within 10 min, while TCC in G. paradoxa treated with 7.5 % equal concentrations of NaCl and C. aurantifolia within 10 min of exposure had 99.99 % decrease. The predominant survived bacterial genera in treated samples were Bacillus, Vibrio and Micrococcus. There was insignificant difference (p ≥ 0.05) between the nutritional compositions of treated and untreated samples. This study showed that G. paradoxa could be treated with C. aurantifolia and NaCl so as to avert possible foodborne diseases associated with consumption of this aquatic food.

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