Assessing microbial contamination of foods sold by vendors around Makerere University main campus in Kampala district, Uganda.

Abstract

To maintain the safety and wellbeing of multitudes, food must be free from any microbial contamination because it is a vital component of human life. Yet, foodborne microbial contamination is a major public health issue that affects people all over the world and is to blame for a number of foodborne infections that cause morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study include, to assess; (1) The status of E.coli in street vended foods, and (2) Sanitation and hygiene of street food vendors.

Methods: Data collection consisted of three main components: a survey of vendors, their sanitation and hygiene and laboratory analysis of food samples.

The survey was conducted face-to-face by using a questionnaire and a checklist to understand the sanitation and hygiene of vendors by identifying the necessity tools for proper sanitation and hygiene and to assess the materials, tools and facilities they used during food preparations processes in order to determine their hygiene and sanitation levels respectively.

The laboratory results were analyzed for the presence and levels of faecal indicator microorganisms (E.coli). The results were compared to the acceptable levels of microorganisms as established by the National Food Safety Standards (NFSSA, 2019).

Results: For food samples from roadside vendors, tests were positive for indole production, lactose fermentation, citrate utilization, but negative for urea hydrolysis. This confirmed presence of E. coli in samples of foods from roadside vendors.

All food samples from cafeterias, 1 tested negative for indole production, lactose fermentation, and exhibited no citrate utilization. These results confirmed the absence of E. coli in the cafeteria food samples.

Respondents from cafeterias were more aware (86.05%) of the food safety regulations, proper sanitation and hygiene than roadside vendors (13.95%). Respondents who studied to secondary level and above were well aware of food safety regulations than those who did not reach this level.

Taken together, these results show a significant microbial contamination, specifically E. coli, in the roadside foods sold by vendors around Makerere University Main Campus in Kampala District, Uganda while cafeteria foods sold around the same study area were free from E. coli contamination.