MICROORGANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PALMS OF FAST-FOOD HANDLERS IN ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

The palms of 87 food vendors in Abeokuta metropolis were sampled for the presence and types of         microorganisms. The food handlers were grouped into six categories based on the type of vending         sites: hawkers (15), roadside (13), open air (15), closed / roofed (21), restaurants (12) and hotels ven-         dors (11). Only 43.7% of the 87 vendors sampled had undergone the annual medical check up while         56.3% had never done the check up. None of the hawkers sampled had ever done the medical check         up while all the hotel food handlers had the health certificate indicating that they have done the routine         medical   check   up.   Bacteria   isolated   from   the   hands   of   the   food   handlers   included  Staphylococcus         aureus, S. epidermidis, Alcaligenes spp. Bacillus subtilis, Listeria spp. Enterobacter sp, Escherichia         coli, Klebsiella aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris and  Vibrio cholerae. The fungi were Rhizopus sp. Asper-         gillus   niger  and  Sachharomyces   cerevisiae.  This   work   suggests   that   food   handlers   were   possible         sources of microorganisms implicated in food poisoning and food spoilage. Proper policing of vendors        to ensure that they undergo the annual physical and medical examinations and proper education of        food handlers on personal hygiene is recommended.&nbsp

Effect of Smoking Method on Quality Attributes of Traditional Smoked Silver Catfish (Chrysichthys Nigrodigitatus) from Lagos State, Nigeria

Effect of smoking methods on quality and safety of traditional smoked silver catfish from Lagos State, Nigeria was carried out with a focus on investigating the quality indices of traditional smoked silver catfish in twenty different fish processing centres.  Fresh unsmoked silver catfish and smoked silver catfish samples were collected from different processing centres and and control samples were smoked with convectional smoke kiln. Proximate and quality analyses revealed that moisture content of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 71.66% – 74.92% and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 11.18% - 14.77% and 8.48% – 10.43% respectively. Protein content of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 15.70% – 17.96% and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 52.96% – 58.36% and 56.81% – 61.42%. Fat content of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 7.58% – 9.86% and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 16.52% – 20.41% and 17.52% – 20.57%. The pH value of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 6.78 – 7.42 and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 6.27 – 6.73 and 6.51 – 6.86. The TBA values of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 0.90 - 1.18mgMol/kg and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 1.01 - 1.15mgMol/kg and 1.00 – 1.12 mgMol/kg. The TVB-N of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples ranged from 13.15 - 15.40mgN/kg and that of smoked silver catfish samples and control samples ranged from 17.59 - 19.69mgN/kg and 15.63 - 17.86mgN/kg. The TMA of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples was 2.04 – 2.61mgN/kg and 2.36 – 2.96mgN/kg and 2.11 – 2.72mgN/kg for smoked silver catfish samples. This study revealed PV of 6.13 – 8.85 mgEq.peroxide/kg for fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples and 8.24 - 9.39mgEq.peroxide/kg and 7.13 - 8.67mgEq.peroxide/kg for smoked silver catfish samples. FFA of fresh unsmoked silver catfish samples was 1.00 – 1.16% while that of smoked silver catfish samples ranged from 1.03 – 1.26% and 1.00 – 1.24%. Convention smoke kiln (used for control samples) did not significantly affect pH and composition of smoked silver catfish. The study concluded that smoking method affect quality as convention smoke kiln significantly reduced the moisture content of smoked silver catfish and the quality indices such as FFA, TBA and PV. Keywords: silver catfish, smoking, traditional, quality, smoking metho

FOOD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES AMONG FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE STUDENTS IN ABEOKUTA

Improper practices, poor attitudes and lack of knowledge by food handlers are contributing factors for the spread of foodborne diseases. Food safety knowledge is an important factor in improving food safety practices and subsequently food safety attitude. This study is aimed at exploring the food safety knowledge, practice and attitude of FUNAAB students. A self completed questionnaire was answered by randomly selected 270 students from each of the nine (9) colleges in the university and analyzed using SPSS software. The study revealed that almost all of the students had a high level of food safety awareness but the knowledge was not to large extent translated into practice. Majority of the students also had good food safety attitudes as many of them are willing to change their food handling behav-iour when they know they are incorrect (94.8%). The study further revealed similar level of food safety knowledge between the male and female. Despite the level of students’ knowledge, their choice of eating place on campus was determined by the price of the food. This study therefore concluded that good knowledge of food safety does not determine students’ safe handling practices and choice of eating place.Keywords: Food safet

Effects of Molasses and Storage Period on the Chemical, Microbial and Fermentation Characteristics of Guinea Grass - Cassava Leaves Silage

The study was conducted to determine the effects of molasses and storage periods on the chemical composition, microbial and fermentation characteristics of silage produced from guinea grass and cassava leaves mixture. Guinea grass was harvested at 2 months regrowth from an established pasture and cassava tops collected immediately after root harvest consisting of only the tops with the green stem and its leaf canopy. The forages were wilted and thoroughly mixed in the ratio of 70:30 (guinea grass: cassava leaves); mixed with molasses at the rate of 0, 2, 4 and 6 % and ensiled for 30 and 60 days respectively for fermentation. The DM, CP, NDF, HCN and tannin contents of the ensiled guinea grass and cassava leaves significantly reduced as the level of molasses addition and storage period increased. The acetic acid fermentation was high in the 0, 2, 4 and 6% molasses addition with values ranging from 40.2 to 42.4 g/kg DM while the lactic acid content was only 18.4 to 30.3 g/kg DM at the 0% molasses addition. However, lactic acid fermentation increased significantly as both the storage periods and molasses addition increased from 0 to 60 days. The highest bacterial count (8.4 log cfu/g) was recorded at the 0% molasses addition and this significantly reduced as molasses addition increased from 0 to 6% and as the ensiling periods elongate from 0 to 60 days. However, a sharp decline in fungi count was observed with increase in the percentage of molasses added. The bacteria isolated from the silage were Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., Enterobacter spp., Proteus spp., Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus buchneri. It is concluded that ensiling mixture of guinea grass and cassava leaves with molasses increased lactic acid and suppressed the production of acetic and butyric acids with drastic reduction in microbial load.Keywords: Guinea grass, cassava, storage period, molasses, fermentation, chemical compositio