Human Bacteria in Street Vended Fruit Juices: A Case Study of Visakhapatnam City, India

Abstract

Contamination of ready-to-eat foods and beverages sold by street vendors and hawkers rendering them unacceptable for human consumption has become a global health problem. A study aimed at examining the quality and safety of freshly squeezed fruit juices, in a metropolitan city (Visakhapatnam) in south India, based on standard techniques (e.g. culturing on selective media), showed that in most localities the street vended fruit juices remained hygienically poor since bacterial loads (Total viable counts and Total coliforms) on the whole are abnormally high (HVC 0.88-33.6×10 4 CFUs/100 ml; TC 0.8-22.2×10 4 CFUs/100 ml). Based on the presence of faecal coliforms (0.4-11.0 CFUs/100 ml) and faecal streptococci (0.0-6.6 CFUs/100 ml), it is concluded that fruit juices in certain areas inside the city (e.g. R.T.C. Complex, Fishermen’s colony, Vegetable market) are highly impacted and unfit for human consumption. Overall, it is contended that contamination is mainly due to poor quality of water used for dilution, prevailing unhygienic conditions related to washing of utensils, maintenance of the premises, and location by the side of a busy road with heavy vehicular traffic or by the side of the waste disposal system and over crowding. The occurrence of pathogenic E. coli, Streptococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi and Salmonella typhimurium is alarming enough for an immediate action by the suitable agency. It is suggested that regular monitoring of the quality of fruit juices for human consumption must be introduced to avoid any future pathogen outbreaks.