Quality and safety of street vended fruit juices: a case study of Amravati city, India.

Abstract

Objective: Due to reports of food borne illness associated with the consumption of fruit juices at several places in India and elsewhere, a study was undertaken to assess the safety of street vended fruit juices particularly as possible sources of bacterial pathogens. Methodology and results: A total of 52 fruit juice samples were analyzed for presence of enteric bacterial pathogens. The dominant bacterial pathogen present in juices were Escherichia coli (40%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (25%), Salmonella spp. (16%), Proteus spp. (9%), Staphylococcus aureus (6%), Klebsiella spp. (3%) and Enterobacter spp. (1%). The highest bacterial contamination was observed in sweet lemon juice (35%), pineapple (29%), and pomegranate, apple and orange (12% each). The contamination is mainly due to poor quality of water used for dilution as well as unhygienic conditions related to washing of utensils, contaminated water and ice, poor personal and domestic hygiene, peeling of fruits much earlier before processing, shops located in crowded places, increased dust particles in the evening and poor maintenance of premises. Shop located alongside roads with heavy vehicular traffic or waste disposal systems, and over crowding further increase the degree of contamination. Conclusion and application of findings : Health education of the fruit juice vendors and implementation of standard hygienic practices should be enhanced to reduce contamination of fruit juices. Regular monitoring of the quality of fruit juices should be introduced to avoid bacterial pathogen outbreaks in future.