THE INVESTIGATION OF THE PREVALENCE OF BACTERIAL

CONTAMINATION ON READY-TO-EAT VEGETABLES AMONG

FOOD VENDORS IN YEJI

A PRESENTATION BY
KESSE DANIEL
BONIGE BRIDGET
VORLETO MAKAFUI
September,
ASANTE EVANS ADU 2022
 • Background
• Problem Statement
• Aim and Objectives
PRESENTATION • Methodology
OUTLINE • Results and Discussion
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
BACKGROUND
• Streets food are food that are cooked on the street or at home, sold in the streets and
is/are ready to eat when purchased, without further preparations (Kariuki 2017).
• Vegetables are important source of dietary nutrients. They are rich in nutrients such
as minerals, vitamins, fiber, anti-oxidants and are of great importance to human
health (Yafetto et al. 2019).
• Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO)
recommends the intake of more than 400g of fruits and vegetables per day to
promote good health (Yafetto et al. 2019).
Background
• Despite the health imparts of taking in fresh vegetables, the risk of microbiological
contamination in vegetables is of public concern due to the possibility of
contaminations along the food chain.
• And this concern is compounded by the fact that, these vegetables are mostly eaten
fresh and washing of the vegetables may not guarantee decontamination, so that any
pathogen residing in/on the vegetable easily enter the alimentary canal (Yafetto et al.
2019)
Background
• In a report given by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and World Bank in
2007, one out of every 40 persons in Ghana suffers from food borne illness
annually with over 420,000-year round reported cases.
• Some of the foodborne pathogens that account for these foodborne diseases
include Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria, Salmonella, Bacillus and Escherichia
coli. Also, it was reported (2012) that the most predominant bacteria in
Ghanaian foods were Enterobacter spp., Citrobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., and
PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Vegetables are great source of dietary nutrients and contamination of ready-to-eat
vegetables can result in illness and even outbreak of diseases. Contamination of
ready-to-eat vegetables is/are largely dependent on sanitation and personal hygiene
of food vendors and on vegetable farming and improper storage of the vegetables.
• Bacterial contamination of vegetables can occur directly or indirectly through
contact with the environment through open cuts in tissues of vegetables (Yafetto et
al. 2019).
Problem Statement

• There is concern that the fresh vegetables become contaminated as a result of

untreated water in drains used to irrigate them. Also, most foods sold on the street
are found along roadsides and gutters and hence; fumes and dust from cars as well as
flies carries pathogens which contaminate these foods (Pesewu et al. 2014).
OBJECTIVES
Main
To assess the hygiene and status of bacterial contamination of ready-to-eat vegetables
sold on the streets of Yeji.
Specific Objectives
• To identify the common bacterial isolated from ready-to-eat vegetable.
• To evaluate the level of knowledge of food hygiene practices among food vendors
• To identify how food is handled among street food vendors among the people of
METHODOLOGY
• Study Area
The study was conducted in Yeji, Pru east District assembly, in the Bono East Region.
• Study Design and Sampling Technique
A cross-sectional study and a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods
were used. A simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from food
vendors.
• Study Population and Sample Size
Methodology

• Sample analysis
50 vegetable samples were collected in containers containing peptone. They were
incubated overnight. Containers which had growth in them were cultured using
Mackonkay, blood, SS, TSI and other agar media. They were incubated overnight and
were gramed. They were then subcultured and test like oxidase, catalase and coagulase
tests were also done. Due to the growth pattern of some bacteria, we identified some
without further test.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Majority of the
Knowledge on Food Hygiene Practices Among Street Food Vendors population had fair

knowledge on food
Knowledge Frequency Percentage hygiene practices
and safe handling of
Below 14 (Poor) 2 4
food. Their
15-29 (Moderate) 29 58 knowledge on the
topic did not match
30-44 (Good) 19 38
their age, gender or
Total 50 100
Results and Discussion
How Food is Handled
45
How ingredients are handled before food preparation • Most vendors used the
40 black volta as source of
35
30
water for their cooking
25 purposes.
20
15
• Most of the vendors sold
10 along drains.
5
0
• Most of the vendors used
fly-trap sieves and glass
Results and Discussion
Common Bacteria Isolated

Total
number of
bacteria
isolated
from the
vegetable
samples
CONCLUSION Out of the total
number of
Total Number of Pathogenic Bacteria out of total number of bacteria isolated bacteria
isolated,47.9%
Pathogenic bacteria Frequency(n) Percentage (%)
were
Salmonella spp. 4 5.6
pathogenic .
E coli 7 9.9
Hence, the data
Shigella spp. 2 2.8
confirms the
Klebsiella spp. 20 28.2
global concern
Streptococcus spp. 1 1.4
of bacteria
Total 34 47.9
RECOMMENDATIONS

• We recommended that, the district assembly and sanitation office should educate
the general public on safety food practices.
• We encouraged the food vendors to practice good personal hygiene.
• We encouraged the vendors to use clean filtered water and avoid using just the
volta lake for their cooking purposes.
• We pleaded with the local authorities to get the vendors a place to sell their foods
away from gutters and dump sites.