Exercise No.

1
Ubiquity of Microorganisms
Group No. 3
Section: MRUVWX D
Name of members:
Date Submitted: August 24, 2015
Bernad, Michelle
Ralios, Frances
Ramos, Kiara
Segura, Prince
I.

Data Sheet
See attached Data Sheet

II.

Answers to Questions
1. Given the measures of microbial standards for a clean surface and air;
the members concluded that both the surface and air in the
Microbiology laboratory did not meet these standards as performed
and tested in this exercise. This is because colonies counted in the
agar medium that contained microbial samples from the air in the
laboratory exceeded 15 cfu/plate, and colonies observed in the agar
medium that contained microbial samples from the laboratorys
surface contained a spreader that is categorized as Case I.
2. With the obtained results, the group has deemed all of the microbial
samples from various personal habits as unhygienic. This is due to the
fact that these parts tested were in contact with the members hands.
As it is known, the human hands physical conditions erratically
changes with its contact to an infinite amount of environments and
objects (Larson, 2001). With this, the microorganisms present in the
hand may not inflict harm on itself, but since hands are often in
contact with other numerous objects, residing bacteria accumulate.
According to Dr. Torres (2014), bacteria in various surfaces are easy to
transfer to the human hand and may be transferred to other parts of
the body as the hand comes in contact with these. This may
furthermore cause infections or other types of diseases (Torres, 2014).
3. Proper food hygiene is a must in food handling. People affiliated with
the food industry are required to wear protective body covering and
observe hygienic personal habits as these practices contribute to food
safety reduction of contamination and cross contamination risks
(Brown, 2011). Moreover, proper implementation of food hygienic
practices can help improve food's quality as such may prevent food
spoilage which is sometimes rooted to unhygienic handling of food
(Brown, 2011).

III.

Calculations
N/A

IV.

References
Brown, A. 2011. Understand Food: Principles and Preparations. 4th ed. USA:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Larson, E. 2001. Hygiene of the Skin: When is Clean Too Clean? Emerging
Infectious Diseases. [online article]. Center for Disease Control and
Prevention. Available at: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/7/2/700225_article [accessed 23 August 2015]
Torres M. D., R.V. 2014. Integumentary System HFDS 12. [lecture handouts from UPLB].