Impacts of vending practices on the microbiological quality of bread in the Ojoo Area of Ibadan, Oyo-State, Nigeria

Background: Bacterial counts in ready-to-eat foods are a key factor in assessing the microbiological quality and safety of food. Periodic assessment of the microbiological quality of food is necessary to develop a robust database and help to ensure food safety. Methods: The bacterial contamination of a total of 336 bread samples collected from two bakeries and 10 vendors in Ojoo Area of Ibadan, Oyo-State, Nigeria (December 2014 -June 2015) was evaluated. The microbiological quality of the bread loaves was investigated using standard microbiological methods (morphological, phenotypic and molecular characterization). Results: The results showed that the number of contaminated samples among the vended bread samples was higher than the bakery bread samples and can be summarized as Bacillus megaterium (4.30%), Staphylococcus arlettae (0.005%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (2.78%), Citrobacter freundii (2.40%), Bacillus flexus (1.64%), Bacillus species (49.59%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.12%), Pseudomonas fluorescens (0.92%), Pseudomonas species (0.045%), Escherichia coli (30.44%) Klebsiella sp. (0.040%) and Aeromonas hydrophila (3.72%). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that the bread samples which become contaminated after transport and handling can be considered a potential hazard to human health in the area. More stringent adherence to food safety regulations should be encouraged and enforced by the appropriate authorities. The findings of this study may be adopted to improve the hygienic conditions of bread distribution chain in the area as well as in other regions of the World.151313