Asian Food Science Journal

Aim: A bacteriological analysis of four selected street vended fried ready-to-eat food types (Yam, sweet Potato, Akara and Masa) sold freely and openly at various location in Wudil town along Maiduguri road Kano, Nigeria was conducted from April, 2017 to August, 2017.

Methodology: The food samples collected were cultured on a Nutrient agar and MacConkey agar plates for isolation and identified using gram staining and motility test and subsequently subjected to various biochemical tests which include; catalase, coagulase, indole, methyl red, Voges – Proskauer, citrate utilisation urease and oxidase tests.

Results: From the total of 200 samples examined, 183 (91.5%) were contaminated by different bacterial agents, total of 191 bacterial isolates were recovered, in which 89(46.6%) were Staphylococcus aureus,45(23.6%) Escherichia coli, 38(19.9%) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 19(9.9%) Klebsiella pneumoneae but statistically there is a significant difference (p < 0.05). Analysis of the food samples revealed mean total bacterial count ranging from 1.6 x 10³ cfu/g (yam) to 1.0 x 10² cfu/g (potato), where fried beans ball (Akara) had a mean bacterial count of 1.5 x 10³cfu/g and fried rice masa with 1.06 x 10³ cfu/g, therefore, mean bacterial count were high in fried yam, followed by fried Akara, rice masa and fried potato has less prevalence.

Conclusion: It is recommended that food vendors should be enlighten on food contamination by food regulatory agencies since most of them are not aware of microbial invasion.