Microbiological and Public Health Status of Cooked Meat and Fish in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Due to poor sanitation practices and handling of food, weak regulatory systems, lack of resources and education for food-handlers, food-borne infections happen frequently and pose a serious threat to human health in developing countries like Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: A total of 265 samples of meat and fish with berbere spice added or not were collected from Ethiopia between Jan. 2013 to Dec. 2017. The food samples were analysed using colony count for Aerobic Colony Count (ACC) and S. aureus, spread method for yeasts and moulds enumeration, Nordic Committee on Food Analysis Method No. 44 for coliforms and ES ISO 6579:2002 for Salmonella and Shigella species. The data was analysed using SPSS 20.0. Results: The unsatisfactory levels for aerobic colony count, total and thermotolerant coliforms, E. coli, moulds and yeasts counts for the total samples were 12.1% (N=32), 11.7% (N=31), 1.9% (N=5), 3.4% (N=9), 1.2% (N=3) and 1.9% (N=5), respectively. Among the categories of three ready-to-eat foods examined, beef and mutton meats, fish and poultry, had the highest and lowest microbial contamination. Microbial quality of packaged samples with berbere spice added was reasonable compared with unpackaged samples with no berbere spice added. Conclusion: About 21% of the samples had unsatisfactory microbial quality because of aerobic colony count, coliforms or fungi. However, Salmonella, Shigella spp. and S. aureus were not detected in the samples tested. Processing under hygienic conditions, adding berbere spice to foods and packaging enhances the quality of ready to eat articles.