Microbial Contamination in Vended Street Fruit Juices in Allahabad City

Abstract

Fresh fruit juices are commonly consumed by people in India.  Apart from their high nutritive value, if proper hygiene is not maintained they can be a major source of infection. A total of 40 samples were analyzed and dominant bacterial pathogens recorded were E.coli, Salmonella sp., L.casei, L.acidophilus. The contamination is mainly due to poor quality of water used for dilution, washing of utensils, contaminated ice, poor personal and domestic hygiene, peeling of fruits beforehand and shops in crowded places. The contamination will be more if the shop is located on a busy road with heavy traffic and dust. Food borne diseases mainly affect the gastrointestinal tract and are transmitted through consumption of contaminated food or drink. Improper washing of fruits add bacteria to extracts, leading to contamination. In addition, dressing with ice, prolonged preservation without refrigeration, unhygienic surroundings, often with swarming houseflies, fruit flies and airborne dust can act as sources of contamination. However health education of the vendors and implementation of standard hygienic practices may reduce contamination of fruit juices. Regular monitoring of the quality of fruit juices for human consumption must be introduced to avoid any further bacterial pathogen outbreaks. Our results demonstrate the non hygienic quality of three most popular types of street vended fruit juices and ice used for cooling of juices suggesting the urgent need for government participation in developing suitable intervention measures to improve microbial quality of juices.