Volume : IV, Issue : II, February - 2014

Microbial Quality of Food Contact Surfaces in Retail Food Service Establishments

Garcha S, Ghuman Gk

Abstract :

The present work was undertaken to study the prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms on ready-to-use food contact surfaces. Although many workers have focused on presence of pathogens in street food, little work is reported on their prevalence on surfaces. Swab samples of ready-to-use food contact surfaces were collected over a time period of 6 months from 25 retail food outlets and subjected to microbiological examination to detect the presence of coliforms, Salmonella, Shigella, Viio using standard procedures. Total viable count was also analyzed. 64% of samples exhibited the presence of coliforms. 32% of the samples demonstrated the presence of viable Salmonella and Shigella. 28% samples demonstrated the presence of Viio. Total viable count ranged between 3.5-9.3 log cfu. No relation between type of surface and nature of microflora could be established. Periodic surface swab microbiological examination is a more reliable method than visual examination of surfaces. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) needs to establish microbial specifications concerning food contact surfaces.

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

Garcha S, Ghuman GK Microbial Quality of Food Contact Surfaces in Retail Food Service Establishments Indian Journal of Applied Research, Vol.IV, Issue. II

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