Microbiological hazard identification in selective food products and their association with food safety practices in Hyderabad, India

Microbiological risk assessment (MRA) is an emerging tool for evaluating the safety of food and water supplies. In this study, identification of microbial hazards in selected samples and their association with food safety practices were seen. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) through the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure of the statistical analysis system software (SPSS version-11.5, 2003). The least significant differences were used to test means at p<0.05. Odds ratio (OR) values with 95% CI were computed to obtain the risk of the presence of the foodborne pathogen in a particular food. Analysis of 600 food samples indicated that (50%) was high in raw chicken samples followed by carrot salad (41%). The other emerging foodborne pathogens like (MRSA), , and were not detected in any of the food samples. Pathogens like (73.5%) in khoa, (45%) and (62.7%) in paneer were detected. A total of (n=143) cultures were analyzed for enterotoxin and coagulase enzyme. Nine cultures (6.3%) showed a positive result for enterotoxin production. For the risk assessment of contamination in foods, coagulase test and toxin production of isolates have to be evaluated. A significant association was found between the type of storage and log concentration of in khoa, whereas, with water for washing hands, the status of nails, and cleaning cloth were contributing to foodborne pathogens in other products. There is a need to provide food safety training to food handlers to improve food safety.