Bacteriological Evaluation of Street Vended Guinea Fowl Meat Sold at Nkalagu, Ishelu Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Street vended foods have become part of life in this part of the world. These foods are sold mostly uncovered thereby exposing them to dust and other environmental hazards that could contaminate them. The study was aimed at evaluating microbial quality of Street Vended Guinea fowl Meat sold in Nkalagu in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State Nigeria. Guinea fowl meat samples were randomly purchased from three different hawkers or vendors in Nkalagu and transported to the lab for analysis. With the aid of swab stick, samples were collected from the purchased meat and dislodged in 10ml peptone water. 0.1ml of the sample was inoculated onto prepared media and incubated at 370C for 24hrs. Following standard identification protocol, six genera of bacteria viz Staphylococcus s.p, E. coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella sp., Salmonella sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were isolated. Physical observation revealed that the meat sellers were involved in unhygienic practices such as using of knives without sterilizing them; wearing of dirty aprons and clothes. From the foregoing, it is recommended that consumers of guinea fowl meat should endeavor to re-cook the meat before eating as they are already contaminated before purchase; there is need for public creating awareness on the best way to hawk this meat; regular monitoring of the street vended meat should be undertaken by the Local Government health authorities so as to checkmate the unhygienic practices.