Bacterial contaminants in lettuce, tomatoes, beef and goat meat from the Accra Metropolis
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Date
2001-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ghana Medical Journal
Abstract
A survey on the role of lettuce. tomatoes, beef and
goat meat in the transmission of food-borne bacteria
in Accra was conducted by evaluating their
microbial quality.
All 60 market lettuce samples had significantly
higher faecal bacteria compared to 8(12%) from
the farms (5.0 ± 09 vrs. 4.3 ± 0.9. p <0.001). Salmonella
Groups D and G, Shigella dysenteriae,
flexneria and boydii were detected in both farm and
market samples. Irrigation with tap water instead
of drain water significantly reduced the level of
faecal coliforms (4.4 ± 0.9 vrs. 3.8 ± 0.7, P
<0.00 I). Market (16) and farm (8) samples of
tomatoes had similar levels of coliforms and faecal
coliforms but rotten tomatoes had more coliforms
(6.8 ± 0.37 vrs. 4.6 ± 0.65, p<0.001) and
faecal coliforms (4.7 ± 0.29 vrs. 3.5 ± 0.81,
p<O.OO I) than whole tomatoes. Salmonella Group
B was isolated from one farm sample. Mesophilic
counts of beef from the abattoir were within acceptable
limits of less than 7.0 log10 cfu/g. Market
samples had significantly higher coliforms (5.0 ±
0.62 vrs. 3.5 ± 1.8, p<O.05) than the abattoir samples.
Salmonella Group B and Shigella dysenreriae
were isolated from beef from the market. Coliforms
and faecal coliforms were numerically
Higher In the market and supermarket samples of
goat meal. Shigella flexneri was isolated from
only the supermarket samples.
Vegetables and meat available in the Accra Metropolis
could be sources of food-borne bacteria.
Predisposing factors and strategies to improve
their hygienic quality are discussed.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Food-borne illness, enteropathogens, fresh produce, meat, contamination