Microbiological analysis of street vended vegetables in Multan City,Pakistan: A public health concern

This study was aimed to assess the microbiological quality of mixed and separate fresh vegetables and to observe the potential hazards to public health. one hundred and forty five samples of street vended raw vegetables,sold outside authorized market areas for immediate consumption,were screened for bacterial identification and antibiotic sensitivity pattern. fresh vegetables of street vendors were harboring many microbial contaminants and pathogens. the average total aerobic plate counts cfu per gram (n = 3) in raw mixed vegetables,radish,cabbage,carrot,cucumber,coriander and tomato samples were determined as 2.1×109,2.0×107,3.0×107,4.0×104,4.0×104,6.9×108,4.0×107,and the average total coliform plate count cfu per gram (n = 3) was 3.2×107,5.2×103,9.0×102,3.0×104,5.0×103,3.5×105,and 3.0×108,respectively. the prevalence of staphylococcus aureus,pseudomonas aeruginosa,e. coli,enterobacter spp. and salmonella spp. was found to be 48%,60%,48%,64% and 8%,respectively in the raw vegetables (mixed and separate). all the strains were sensitive to ampicillin,erythromycin,kanamycin and nalidixic acid. the high microbial contamination rates associated with these vegetable samples indicated that overall agricultural,hygiene,harvesting,production and sale practices are poor in the studied area. the consumers should be alarmed of this situation,and thus should adopt suitable sanitary approaches in this context to avoid health problems. copyright 2014 zoological society of pakistan.