THE ROLE OF FAST FOOD IN TRANSMITTING SOME BACTERIAL HAZARDS TO CONSUMERS

AssiutUniversity web-site: www.aun.edu.eg

THE ROLE OF FAST FOOD IN TRANSMITTING SOME BACTERIAL
HAZARDS TO CONSUMERS

LUBNA MOHAMMED IBRAHIM and AZHAR MOHAMMED HASSAN

Animal Health Research Institute (Assiut Lab.)

Received: 27 March 2016;    Accepted: 27 April2016

INTRODUCTION

Fast food or ready to eat food are the food which are easy to make and can be eaten in an easy manner or can be taken away. The consumption and uses of fast foods have currently become a vital part of convenient food preparation patterns all over the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billon people worldwide eat fast food every day (FAO, 2007).

There are many reasons why people eat away from home, these include absence from home whiles travelling, studying, whiles at work or need for a change both in terms of food type and the location, as a result many people purchase food from the streets. Such foods can transmit a wide range of diseases in a condition   termed  food  infection,  where  the   food

Corresponding author: Dr. LUBNA MOHAMMED IBRAHIM

E-mail address: ghada02468@yahoo.com

Present address: Animal Health Research Institute (Assiut Lab.)

serves as a vehicle for the transfer of the pathogen to the consumer, (Murray, 2003). The occurrence of

pathogenic microorganisms has always been attributed to several factors, which include contamination through water, soil, food processing equipments, food contact surfaces and most importantly food handlers (Kawo and Abdulmumin, 2009). The transmission of human diseases through food is a global problem, particularly in developing countries where gastrointestinal diseases are one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality. However, food habits adopted by populations may mitigate or increase the hazards.

With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, the safety of fast food has become one of the major concerns of public health, and a focus for governments and scientists to raise public awareness of food (FAO, 2007).

As the effect of microorganisms on human health has been reported, the present study was performed to give information of distribution and presence of some pathogenic microorganisms in some fast foods from street vendors and different restaurants in AssiutCity, that induces food poisoning and its impact on the consumer health.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Samples collection:

Thirty samples of ready to eat Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches (10 from each) were collected from street vendors and another thirty samples of the same products (10 from each) were collected from different restaurants, all were sourced from different areas in Assiut City. The samples were collected in sterile plastic bags in ice-box, according to (Chessbrough, 1984).

Sample preparation:

The samples were prepared according to the technique recommended by APHA, (2001)

Microbiological analysis:

- Determination of Aerobic plate count according to APHA, (2001).

- Enumeration of Enterococci according to Deible and Hartman, (1982).

- Enumeration of staph.aureus count according to FDA, (2001). 

Isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria:

- staph.aureus were isolated and identified according to ICMSF, (1996).

- E.coli were isolated and identified according to APHA, (1992), isolated strains were identified serologically according to Kok et al. (1996), by using rapid diagnostic E.coli antisera sets (Denka Seiken Co., Japan) for diagnosis of the enteropathogenic types.

- Isolation and identification of Salmonella spp. According to HPA, (2007).

- Members belonging to Enterobacteriaceae were isolated and identified according to Cowan and Steel, (1974).

- Enterocci were isolated and identified according to Morrison et al. (1997).

Statistical analysis:

Was preformed according to S.P.S.S (2007)

Acceptability of the examined samples for APC and Staph.aureus count

were detected according to microbiological guidelines CFS, (2014).

RESULTS

Table 1: Statistical analytical results of APC (cfu/g) of examined Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches samples (n=60).

⃰  No Significant difference (P > 0.05)  

Table 2: Prevalence of accepted restaurants and street vended samples according to the microbiological guidelines (CFS, 2014) for APC

Table 3: Statistical analytical results of Enterococci counts of the examined Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches samples (n=60)

⃰ No Significant difference (P > 0.05)

Table 4: Prevalence of Enterococcus spp.strains isolated from examined samples

Table 5: Prevalence of Staph.aureus isolated from examined Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches samples⃰.

 ⃰ Highly significant difference (P < 0.01)  

Table 6: Frequency distribution of Staph.aureus in street vended burger sandwiches.

Table 7: Prevalence and serotyping of E.coli isolated from examined Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches samples.

Table 8: Recovery rate of Enteric bacteria isolated from examined samples.

DISCUSSION

The chief purpose of microbiological examination sandwich are to give assurance that the sandwiches will be acceptable from the public health stand point and that the sandwiches will be of satisfactory quality. Roberts, (1990) reported that the three main routes by which microorganisms enter food are the foodstuff, food handlers and the environments, Whereas aerobic plate count indicates the level of microorganisms in a product and provides general estimate of live aerobic bacteria, indicating the quality, shelf life and post heat processing contamination Maturin and Peeler, (1998). It is evident from the results recorded in Table (1) that the mean values in the examined samples of street vended Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches were 42.3 x 10⁴, 96.4 x 10⁴ and 28.22 x 10⁵ cfu/g for APC respectively, and they were 26.7 x 10⁵, 97.3x10³ and 64.42x10⁴ cfu/g in the examined samples of Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants respectively.

Although no significant differences in aerobic plate counts were found between the street vended and restaurants examined samples (P>0.05) the street vended samples of both beef burger and sausage sandwiches still had higher total viable bacterial count than those obtained from restaurants, while street vended samples of kofta sandwiches had lower viable bacterial count than those obtained from restaurants.

Exposure of the food to air or dust at the point of sale is likely to increase the counts of the bacteria as virtually most of the bacteria are carried in aerosols by dust and air Food and Drug Administration, (2009).

The variation in bacterial counts between different types of meat products could be attributed to difference of ingredients and steps involved in their formulation and preparation Hefnawy and youssef, (1984).

The obtained results were lower than those obtained by Ibrahim-Ghada, (2001) who found that, the mean values of APC in Kofta and beef burger sandwiches collected from different restaurants were 15.3x10⁶ and 29.27 x10⁷ cfu/g respectively, while (Ibrahim-hemmat et al., 2014) recorded that the mean value of APC in kofta collected from different restaurants was 1.83x10⁴ cfu/g, it was lower than that obtained in our results, also he recorded 8.61x10⁴ cfu/g as a mean value of APC in sausage which was relatively agree with our results. However higher findings were obtained by (Fahim et al., 2015) who found that the mean values of APC were 8.51x10⁵, 3.97x10⁵ and 1.33x 10⁶ cfu/g in examined samples of street vended kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches respectively.

Based on the microbiological guidelines for ready to eat foods (CFS, 2014), the obtained results in Table (2) showed that 80% and 50% of street vended and restaurant kofta sandwiches were satisfactory, 20% and 50% were borderline quality according to their APC. Also the street vended and restaurant burger sandwiches had the same results. Meanwhile, 20% and 80% of street vended and restaurant sausage sandwiches were satisfactory, 80% and 20% were borderline quality according to their APC.

Borderline results were due mainly to high APC, Khater-Dalia et al. (2013), reported that 40% and 60% of street vended and restaurant kofta sandwiches were of unsatisfactory microbiological quality, also he reported that unsatisfactory results were due mainly to high APC which may indicate that the cooking process was inadequate, or post cooking contamination had occurred, or the length of time and temperature control in storage or display facilities was inadequate to prevent bacterial growth, or that a combination of these factors was involved, while Fahim et al. (2015) reported that out of 80 examined samples of street vended meat products 6.25% were of unsatisfactory quality due to their APC.

Results in Table (3) declared that the mean values of Enterococci count were 11.9x10⁵,15.61x10⁴ and 22.68 x 10⁴ cfu/g in the examined samples of street vended Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches, respectively and they were 63.3x10⁴, 34.03 x 10⁴ and 28.63 x 10⁴ in the examined samples of kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants, respectively.

Statistical analysis was performed using S.P.S.S (2007) it revealed that no significant differences in Enterococcus count were found between the street vended and restaurants examined samples (P > 0.05), but the street vended samples of kofta sandwiches still had higher Entero ccus count than those obtained from restaurants.

Although there is a scarcity in the literature concerning prevalence and distribution of Enterococci in the products under examination, (Stiles and Holzapfel, 1997) reported that the ability of Enterococci to survive in the environment, their pronounced heat resistance and their dominance of the microbial population of heat-treated foods, implies that Enterococci can be used as indicators for fecal contamination. Moreover, Giraffa (2002) and Foulquie et al. (2006) concluded that Certain features, such as the ability to growth over a wide range of temperature, salinity and pH make these organisms able to multiply in several foods and even spoil them.

Table (4) showed the incidence of the isolated Enterococcus spp, where Ent.columbae was isolated from 50%, 90% and 70% of kofta, beef burger and Sausage Street vended sandwiches, respectively. The aforementioned organisms were isolated from 40%, 80% and 60% of examined kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants, Ent.cecroum was isolated from 10% of both street vended kofta sandwiches and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants, Ent.mundtii was isolated from 20% and 40% of street vended kofta sandwiches and kofta, sandwiches collected from restaurants respectively, also could be isolated from 20% of street vended sausage sandwiches, Ent.Hirae was isolated from 30% of kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants and from 10% of street vended sausage sandwiches, while Ent.facium only was isolated from 10% of sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants.

Staphylococcus aureus is considered the third most important cases of food borne disease in the world (Normanno et al., 2007), the presence of this pathogen in fast food puts consumers at high risk (Syne et al., 2013).

It is evident from the results recorded in Table (5) that Staph.aureus was isolated with Prevalence rate 10%, 40% and 60% from examined kofta, beef burger and sausage street vended sandwiches respectively, while the organism could be isolated only from kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants with an incidence of 10%, and could not be isolated from both of beef burger and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants.

This results obvious that street vended sandwiches appeared to be the samples that recorded higher incidence of Staph.aureus than that recorded in sandwiches collected from restaurants. Statistical analysis revealed that there were highly significant difference in the incidence of isolated staph.aureus between streets vended examined samples and examined samples collected from restaurants (P< 0.01). In this respect Sharmila, (2011) reported that some vendors (in order to keep prices down) purchase cheap or adulterated ingredients containing unpermitted chemical additives from unauthorized suppliers which may further increase the risks associated with the food, also he reported that the serving utensils used at the vending site are often contaminated with Staphylococcus spp. which may have originated from the vendors hands. 

Concerning Staph.aureus count, all examined kofta sandwiches and street vended sausage sandwiches showed count <10cfu/g.

Based on the microbiological guidelines of ready to eat food (CFS, 2014), all these sandwiches fell in the category satisfactory based on their total Staph.aureus count while the frequency distribution of the organism in the examined street vended burger sandwiches as recorded in table (6) revealed that 6 (60%) had count < 10 cfu/g and 2 (20%) had count 13 cfu/g, so 80% of these sandwiches fell in the category satisfactory based on their total Staph.aureus count, and the same table showed that 2 (20%) of these sandwiches had account 30 cfu/g so they fell in the category borderline based on their total Staph.aureus count.

Alzbeta and Lubomir (2012) reported that Staphylococci compete poorly with indigenous bacteria and are inhibited by the antagonistic activities of other organisms. There fore the presence of staph.aureus in foods must be considered in relation to the amount and types of the accompanying flora.

(Fahim et al., 2015) reported that the incidence of isolated Satph.aureus in the examined samples of street vended meat product sandwiches was recorded in sausage (55%) and beef-burger (40%) they were nearly similar to the obtained results in this study, while he could isolate the organism from (45%) of kofta sandwiches which was higher than that obtained in this study. Also he found that the mean values of Staph.aureus count (cfu/g) in the examined samples of kofta, beef-burger and sausage sandwiches were 8.13x10², 7.54x 10² and 1.96x10³ respectively, they were higher than that obtained in this study, and he reported that 52.5% of the total examined samples fell in the category borderline based on their total Spaph.aureus count (20-≤10⁴ cfu/g), it was a worse report than that obtained in this study.

Also higher results were obtained by Ibrahim-Hemmat et al. (2014) who found that the mean values of Staph.aureus count in the examined samples of kofta and sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants were 9.35x10² and 2.76x10³ respectively. While, Ahmed, (1991), Tolba, (1994), and Mohamed, (2000) failed to detect and isolate Staph.aureus from any of the examined samples of heat treated meat products.

In general Staph.aureus isolated from fast foods was more likely comes from food handlers (Baumgartner et al., 2014), moreover (Potter, 2001) reported that total Staph.aureus count can be taken as index of sanitary conditions under which the meat and its products are manufactured and handled.

E.coli used as an indictor microorganism because it provides an estimate of fecal contamination and poor sanitation during processing (Eisel et al., 1997). Its presence in fast foods indicates that the food has been prepared under poor hygienic conditions (Khater-Dalia et al., 2013). 

From the results illustrated in table (7) it's obvious that the incidence of E.coli isolated from the examined samples were 10%, 10%, 20% and 10% for kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants, street vended burger sandwiches, street vended sausage sandwiches and sausage collected from restaurants respectively, while the organism could not be isolated from street vended kofta sandwiches and beef burger sandwiches collected from restaurants. E.coli was previously isolated from ready to eat meat products by (Fahim et al., 2015) who could isolate the organism from Kofta, beef burger and sausage sandwiches with an incidence of 15%, 10% and 25% respectively.

Also data obtained in the same table revealed that the isolated serotypes of pathogenic E.coli from the examined samples of kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants was O₁₂₇: H₄ (10%), and the serotype O₂₆ : H₁₁ (10%) was isolated from the examined samples of street vended burger sandwiches, while in the examined samples of street vended sausage sandwiches the serotypes O₂₆:H₁₁ (10%) and O₅₅: H₇ (10%) were identified, moreover the serotype O₁₁₁:H₂ could be isolated from sausage sandwiches collected from restaurants with a percentage of (10%). In this respect Hassanin et al. (2014) could isolate E.coli O₂₆, O₁₁₁: H₄ and O₁₂₇:H₆ from kofta sandwiches with a percentage of 13.3%, 6.7% and 6.7% respectively. Also, Fahim at al. (2015) could isolate E.coli O₁₁₁: H₄ and O₁₂₇: H₇ from street vended kofta sandwiches with a percentage of 10% and 5% respectively and from beef burger sandwiches he could isolate E.coli O₅₅:H₇ and O₁₁₉: H₄ with a percentage of 5% for each, while from sausage sandwiches he could isolate E.coli O₂₆: H₁₁, O₅₅: H₇, O₁₁₁: H₄ and O₁₁₉: H₄ with a percentage of 5%, 5% 5% and 10% respectively.

In recent years, E.coli has become recognized as a serious food borne pathogen and has been associated with numerous outbreaks of disease in the UK, Japan and USA (Scotter et al., 2000).

Some other genera of the family, Enterobacteiraceae could be isolated as shown in Table (8), that Proteus mirabilis was isolated from street vended burger sandwiches with an prevalence rate 30%, and Klebsiella pmeumoniae was isolated with an prevalence rate 10% and 20% from kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants and street vended sausage sandwiches respectively, Also Enterobacter aerogenes was isolated with an prevalence rate 10% from kofta sandwiches collected from restaurants. These isolated genera of the family Enterobacteriaceae are normal flora of the intestinal tract and are considered opportunistic pathogens.

While Salmonella spp. could not be isolated from any of the examined samples. The results agreed with Khater – Dalia et al. (2013), who reported that no samples tested in their study were found to contain salmonella spp.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The results of the present study revealed the occurrence of enteropathogenic E.coli and staph.aureus, also revealed presence of some sandwiches with borderline quality due to their APC, in addition to the contamination with Enterococci. Occurrence of these pathogens in fully ready-to-eat sandwiches render the quality of the foods examined inadequate. Relevant authorities should educate food handlers on good personal hygiene and good manufacturing practices, which are sure ways of reducing the likelihood of the foods serving as vehicles for food-borne illnesses.

The above mentioned hazards can be minimized to a great extent simply by monitoring the microbiological quality of food and creating awareness among the people about the fundamental principles of sanitation and hygienic quality of food.

Although governments throughout the world are attempting to improve the safety of food supply, the occurrence of food borne disease remain a significant health issue in both developed and developing countries (WHO, 2011).  

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