Microbial analysis of locally prepared vended dishes in owerri municipality of imo state, Nigeria

A study was carried out to access the microbial analysis of locally prepared vended dishes in Owerri municipality of Imo state. Five zones namely: Prefab and Aladinma areas are represented as Zone A while Ikenegbu and Wethdral areas, Douglas area, School road and Tetlow areas and Worldbank area represented Zone B, C, D and E respectively. The food samples collected includes; rice, spagehetti, beans and white stew. The result obtained revealed that the total viable count in zone A contained 11.42 × 103, 9.5 × 103, 4.4 × 104 and 10.0 × 105 (Cfu/mL) for white rice, spaghetti, beans and stew while those of zone B are 9.0× 103, 7.70 × 103, 2.5× 104 and 6.0 × 105 (Cfu/mL) for white rice, spaghetti, beans and stew respectively. Zone C stew (10.4 ×103 cfu/mL), spaghetti (2.0× 104 cfu/mL), beans (3.3× 104 cfu/mL) and stew (10.3× 104 cfu/mL). Zone D stew (8.0 × 103 cfu/mL), spaghetti (1.5× 104 cfu/mL), beans (1.4× 104 cfu/mL) and stew (4.0×105cfu/mL). Zone E stew (12.55 × 103 cfu/mL), spaghetti (6.3× 103 cfu/mL), beans (6.0× 104 cfu/mL) and stew (4.5×105cfu/mL). Total coliform count shows no gas production in Durbam tube in all the zones, no mould were also observed in all the samples. Generally, mould growth on food is evidence deterioration. It was concluded that the zones maintained high sense of hygiene.