| dc.description.abstract | The research was conducted in Kampala district and the aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of E. coli a fecal indicator in smoked Tilapia fish sold in three (3) selected markets of Kampala (Kalerwe, Bwaise, and Wandegeya). In the study, 30 pieces of fish were randomly bought from each of the three selected markets. 10g of tissue were used for each piece of fish, and from these, a single gram was inoculated using spread plating method on MacConkey agar for 24 hours at 370C. The Colon forming units (cfu/g) were counted and recorded while the hygiene practices and sanitary facilities were also assessed using an interview guided by a questionnaire and observations on site.
However, the study revealed that there was a significant (p<0.05) difference in the E. coli load of smoked fish sold in the three markets and of the three markets, Kalerwe had the highest E. coli load.
Generally, all the samples of smoked fish were found contaminated and none met the recommended standards for safe foods ready to eat and that is to say, none of the samples was safe for ready consumption since they had above 100cfu/g which is the recommended contamination level for ready to eat foods by World Health Organization and UNBS. | en_US |
