Volume : IV, Issue : XI, November - 2014

A Bacteriological Study of Food Served at Various Hostels of Chandigarh: With Special Reference to E. Coli

Saloni Jain, Madhu Kaul

Abstract :

The present study was undertaken to assess the microbial load of foods served at 19 Hostels of Panjab University, Chandigarh. These foods were tested for their bacterial count and E. coli was isolated from them and from possible sources of contamination. The total bacterial counts ranged between 2.2x102– 1.2x106 CFU/ gm/ml whereas the gram negative counts ranged between 2.0x101–8.0x103 CFU/gm/ml. E. coli was isolated in 83.33% of all the samples (food and sources of contamination) screened. It was observed that E. coli isolation from food samples was 91.57% whereas isolation from all sources of contamination was 80%. Antibiotic sensitivity of E. coli isolates from food and swab samples was maximum (80%) for Chloramphenicol. Salt aggregation test (SAT) for hydrophobicity revealed that 96% strains were hydrophobic. Using chi square test, a highly significant correlation was obtained between multi drug resistance and cell surface hydrophobicity. Hygiene and cleaning practices followed by food handlers at Hostels were also surveyed. It was observed that majority of food handlers washed hands before and after handling food (63.15%).

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

Saloni Jain,Madhu Kaul A Bacteriological Study of Food Served at Various Hostels of Chandigarh: With Special Reference to E. Coli Indian Journal of Applied Research, Vol.4, Issue : 11 November 2014

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