DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2020.v08i01.001

Pages: 1-6

Ready-to-eat foods such as meat pies are susceptible to microbial contamination and street vended foods have become a global health problem. The objectives of this cross-sectional study were: i) Isolation and identification of enteric bacteria from meat pies; ii) To estimate the total coliforms and E.coli counts from the meat pies and iii) To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of detected enteric bacteria. A total of 120 meat pies were collected in Harare CBD between November 2018 and April 2019 and were tested using standard microbiological methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing for the identified enteric bacteria was performed using the Kirby-Beur disk agar diffusion method. Four bacterial species were isolated which were E. coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The overall prevalence rates of the bacterial genera isolated were calculated and Escherichia coli had the highest prevalence rate of 54.3% followed by S. aureus 25.7% followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 11.4% and Proteus mirabilis 8.6%. Microbiological quality was unsatisfactory in pies that were homemade with total coliforms and E. coli counts ranging from 2.0 x 102 to 1.0 x 105. All the enteric bacteria isolated were susceptible to sulphamethoxazole/Trimethoprim and gentamycin with varying antibiotic resistance against the other antibiotics tested. The pies were contaminated with enteric bacteria indicating non-enforcement of inspection and lack of maintenance of standard relation to hygienic quality of meat pie. This deviation from bacteriological quality standards of the meat pies poses potential risks to consumers. Total coliforms and E. coli count from industrially manufactured meat pies were 0 (<101) and were suitable for human consumption. Continuous monitoring of proper hygienic and sanitary conditions in each activity from pre-preparation to cleaning is required in homemade and street vended ready-to-eat foods.