Bacterial Contamination in Tetra Pack and Street Vended Fruit Juice Samples

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. The present study was done to compare contamination in tetra pack fruit juices and street vended fruit juices. A total of 25 fruit juice samples were analyzed for presence of bacterial pathogens. Out of 25 samples, 07 were street vended fruit juices samples while 18 samples were tetra pack fruit juices. Spread plate method is used for the isolation of these bacteria. The bacterial pathogens present in juices were Escherichia coli (42%), Staphylococcus (42%), Enterococcus (28%), Streptococcus (14%), Bacillus (14%) & Diptheroids (14%). Only one sample of tetra pack fruit juice was contaminated and the organism identified was Bacillus. It was found that street vended fruit juices were highly contaminated as compare to tetra pack fruit juices. The contamination is mainly due to poor quality of water used as well as unhygienic conditions related to washing of utensils. However, health education of the fruit juice vendors and implementation of standard hygienic practices should be enhanced to reduce contamination of fruit juices.