| dc.description.abstract | In Uganda, day by day, new brands of bottled beverages are emerging on the market. However
several reports have indicated that many of these brands do not pass the quality regulatory
standards set by the national standards body and could pose health risks due to microbial
contamination levels .This study therefore evaluated the microbial contamination levels in the
different brands commonly sold on the market in Kampala city. The beverage brands that will be
analysed will mainly include; Bushera drink, Banana Juice commonly known as “Eshande”,
Tayebwa products, Kazire products, kisakyamuzade, minute maid, afia, U-fresh fruit drink
Kanywe drink among others. This was mainly done by carrying out different microbial
quantitative tests like Total Aerobic Plate count, fecal coliforms total coliforms. All these tests
were aseptically be carried out using the different suitable standard methods. The results
obtained indicated that the bottled juices had microbial Total plate count values less than 9×103
CFU/ml and these are within the acceptable ranges when compared with the values set by
UNBS. The polythene packaged juices had the total plate count values of up to 4.8×107 CFU/ml
and these values were above the range of the accepted references set by the UNBS. The bottled
juices did not have coliform organisms while some of the polythene packaged juices had the
coliforms as well as E.coli, the fecal indicator organims. It was concluded that the bottled juices
had the accepted microbial levels and the polythene packaged juices were above the acceptable
ranges. The Bushera products had the highest microbial load. The study recommended that the
producers of Bushera and other polythene packed juices should use boiled water in their
production and use sterile containers during packaging. | |
