Microbial quality of ready-to-eat vegetable salads vended in the central business district of Tamale, Ghana

Abstract

Background: Food safety problems still persist across the globe and remain a challenge to the general public and government. The study determined the microbiological quality of pre-cut vegetable salads sold in the Central Business District (CBD) of Tamale. Results: A total of thirty (30) salad samples were purchased from four zones of the District and transported to the Spanish Laboratory of the University for Development Studies, Ghana for analysis. Standard microbiological methods that are in accordance with American Public Health Association (APHA) were used in determining the presence and levels of bacteria in the salad samples. Escherichia coli were detected in 96.7% of salad samples with levels ranging from 0 to 7.56 log10 cfu/g. Bacillus cereus were present in 93.3% of ready-to-eat vegetable salads with counts ranging from 0 to 7.44 log10 cfu/g. Further, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. were present in 73.3% and 76.7% of salads, respectively. Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. counts ranged from 0 to 4.54 log10 cfu/g and 0 to 5.54 log10 cfu/g, respectively. Statistically, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Shigella spp. Contamination varied significantly (p < 0.05) across the four zones demarcated. However, Salmonella spp. contamination did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) across the zones.

Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica isolated from cabbage and lettuce samples in Tamale metropolis of Ghana

“…Consumption of vegetables containing resistant Salmonella and Escherichia coli isolates is a threat to public health and needs to be given attention especially in countries where such phenomena is possible and rampant. Contamination of ready-to-eat vegetable salads by microbes in the Tamale metropolis has been reported (Abakari et al 2018). Also, contamination of mixed vegetables by total aerobic bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus but not Salmonella species in the Kumasi metropolis has been reported (Amoah 2014).…”

Molecular Detection of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium in Ready-to-Eat Vegetable Salads Consumed in Restaurants of Tabriz, North-West of Iran

“…Low contamination rate in raw vegetables have previously been reported in the Czech Republic (0.3%) by Vojkovska et al (2017) and in Italy (0.75%) by De Giusti et al (2010). However, Abakari et al (2018) showed 73.3% contamination rate of Salmonella spp. in REVS samples vended in Ghana which was too higher than what we found in our research.…”

“…Such differences can be due to variation of sanitary conditions during cultivation, harvesting, packaging, distribution, and preparation of the vegetables in the studied regions. It has shown that different hygienic practices may affect the prevalence rate of bacterial contamination in the vegetable samples such as food vendors and also the sources of cultivation (Abakari et al, 2018;Gurler et al, 2015;León et al, 2013). However, we found no significant relation with the Salmonella contamination rate and the area from which our vegetables were obtained.…”

“…Bacterial contamination of the vegetables can be controlled by appropriate hygienic measures such as prevention of cross-contamination. Proper implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system in the restaurants can help to prevent cross-contamination (Abakari et al, 2018). The presence of Salmonella spp.…”

Assessment of the Risk of Microbial Contamination of an Urban Crop in the City of Daloa (Côte d&#39;Ivoire): Case of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

“…In New Zealand, S. aureus was counted in lettuce from various production systems with feeds ranging from 10 2 to 10 3 CFU/g (Wadamori et al, 2016). Salmonella sp (0 to 10 4 ) loads have been found recently in urban lettuce production in Ghana (Abakari et al, 2018). The high contamination of lettuce is also due to soil that has been heavily contaminated by the presence of dumpsites in the area, surroundings in addition to wastewater.…”