Microbiological Safety of Street-Vended Beverages in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

Improper handling, poor hygienic practices, and lack of environmental control affect the safety of street-vended beverages. The objective of this study is to determine the bacterial contamination level of three types of beverages (cordial-based drinks, milk-based drinks, fruit juices) sold by street vendors at Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. A total of 31 samples of beverages were analyzed to determine total viable count (TVC), total coliform, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus counts via the standard plate count method. The results showed that only 9.7% of the total samples were not contaminated with the tested microorganisms. All milk-based drink samples were positive for TVC and also had the highest average bacterial counts at 5.30 ± 1.11 log Colony Forming Unit/mL (CFU/mL). About 71% of the samples were contaminated with total coliform with the average readings ranging between 4.30 and 4.75 log CFU/mL, whereas 58.1% of the samples were positive with S. aureus, with fruit juices having the highest average reading (3.42 ± 1.15 log CFU/mL). Only one sample (milk-based drink) was E. coli positive. This study showed that the microbiological safety level of street-vended beverages in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur was average and needs to be improved. Provision of food safety education and adequate sanitary facilities at vending sites are suggested to increase the safety of food products.

Microbiological quality and presence of enteropathogenic bacteria in orange juice sold in popular markets

“…High AM counts, as occurred in this study, are important since this indicator group is related to overall microbial contamination, lack of hygiene and food safety during the production process (Castillo et al, 2006;Tasnim et al, 2010). Similar counts were reported by Iqbal et al (2015), who showed higher microbial loads higher than permissible limits in unpasteurized fruit juices, and Mohd Nawawee et al (2019) in milk-and fruit-based beverages sold on the street and Ferrari et al (2021), reported unsatisfactory hygiene conditions in the sale of food on the street and 1% showed higher microbial loads higher than permissible limits. According to Afreen et al (2019), high microbial loads in street foods, including juices, can be attributed to deficient hygiene practices and juices are pointed out as potential reservoirs for foodborne illnesses.…”

“…High concentrations of TC are indicative of microbiological quality, a lack of sanitary hygiene conditions, and are considered a risk, since they contribute to the deterioration of the product and can affect consumer health (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2005). Counts above the permissible limits coincide with Iqbal et al (2015) and Mohd Nawawee et al (2019), who reported counts of coliforms of an important risk factor is that juices are generally prepared in bulk before sale by the vendors, an overwhelming factor in the microbiological quality of the product (Umoh & Odoba, 1999;Alimi, 2016). That street-vending food is a source of risk to consumer health and should be treated as an important health problem.…”

An Evaluation of the Hygiene Practices of Polish Street Food Vendors in Selected Food Trucks and Stands

“…This is related to not separating unclean operations from clean ones, overfilled waste containers, dirty floors and walls of preparation areas, contaminated working surfaces, no possibility to clean or disinfect equipment, and most importantly the presence of personal items of the personnel in the production area. Similar non-compliances are mentioned by other authors [78,81,115,128].…”

“…Street food establishments are most popular in Asia, Africa, and America. These types of facilities are seen as a public health risk due to a weak level of food production and distribution hygiene; studies in Asia [21,22,54,[74][75][76][77][78], Africa [23,27,63,[79][80][81][82], and America [7,30,41,[83][84][85][86][87][88] have shown that they are a public health risk. Street-vended foods have been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.…”

Consumer Eating Behavior and Opinions about the Food Safety of Street Food in Poland

“…Due to their locations on the street, the hygienic conditions of preparing and selling food by street vendors are often unacceptable [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Studies about street food focusing on food safety and on vendors’ food safety knowledge and use of hygienic practices, as well as on the microbiological quality of street food products, are still limited to continents such as Africa [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], South America [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], central America [ 29 ], and Asia [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Studies conducted on European street food evaluated the hygiene of street food vendors and the microbiological quality of food products [ 3 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”