Inadequate handling, processing and sales of meat products have resulted in microbial contamination responsible for most infectious human food-borne illness. The study conducted a stochastic assessment of the risk of infection linked to the consumption of braised beef meat "Choukouya" contaminated by Clostridium perfringens in Côte d'Ivoire. We conducted "Choukouya" consumers (n = 900) and vendors (n = 300) survey to characterize the actors behavior. 189 samples of "Choukouya" were collected and microbiologically analyzed according to French standard protocols NF V 08-061 and XPV 08-061. A risk model was developed and the risk of infection linked to the consumption of "Choukouya" was estimated by Monte Carlo simulation procedure. The consumer's surveys showed that the percentage of population consuming "Choukouya" was 74.4%, with an average consumption of 114.3 ± 0.5 g/person/intake. The microbiological analysis revealed the isolation of 70% of Clostridium perfringens in the vegetative form and 60.3% in sporulated form with an average loading of 3.7 ± 2.6 log 10 •cfu/g and 1.1 ± 1.0 log 10 •cfu/g respectively. The probability of ingesting a dose greater than 10 9 bacteria of Clostridium prefringens varied between 7.36% and 7.93%. The braised beef meat "Choukouya" sold in the streets of cities in Côte d'Ivoire represents a real risk of infection, and Clostridium perfringens is one of the causes. This risk could be mitigated by the establishment of good hygiene practices and adequate handling processes in this informal sector.

A b s t r a c t A r t i c l e I n f oThe objective of this work was to determine the occurrence of mycotoxins like aflatoxin B1and ochratoxin A in a few foodstuffs consumed by the Ivorian population. The levels of AFB1 are higher than the contents of OTA. Dry gumbo is the most contaminated food in AFB1 with an average grade of 71.18 μg/kg. Adjovan has an average AFB1 concentration of 64.65 μg/kg. The levels of AFB1 of cassava are on average 4.17μg/kg. Dried maize is the least contaminated commodity with an average concentration of 2.28 μg/kg. The mean levels of Aflatoxin B1 in the range of 4.17 to 71.18 μg -1 .kg -1 exceed the maximum residue limit (MRL) of 2 μg/kg for cereals and vegetables and 5 μg/kg for spices. The most contaminated samples of ochratoxin A (OTA) samples were dry cassava and adjovan with average concentrations of 0.94 μg/kg and 0.92 μg/kg. Low levels are 0.60 μg/kg and 0.48 μg/kg respectively for dry gumbo and dry maize. These mean OTA values of the samples analyzed are well below the maximum residue limit (MRL) of 5 μg/kg for vegetables, cereals and spices. This study presents the results concerning the safety assessment of a few foodstuffs regarding mycotoxins in Côte d'Ivoire.