EVALUATION OF MICROBIAL PROFILES OF SELECTED READY AND NONREADY TO CONSUME FISH PRODUCTS VENDED IN SOME OPEN MARKETS IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Food Vendors play an important role in the cities and towns of many developing countries in meeting the food demands of the urban dwellers. They feeds millions of people daily with a wide variety of fish and fishery products that are relatively cheap and easily accessible. However concerns have been raised about the safety and quality of fish vended in open market in urban and rural centers across the country. Hence, this study was carried out to determine the microbial profiles of fish vended in some open markets in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. A total of four fish samples in different forms comprising of ready (hot smoked, cold smoked, and barbequed) and non -ready to eat (frozen) were collected from some open markets in Awka metropolis such as Eke-Awka, Second Market and Abakiliki Street. A number of microorganisms and fungi spp were isolated and identified using standard methods. However, Frozen and Barbequed fish were observed to have the highest number of microbes with their mean Total Bacteria Count (TBC) 6.35 ×105and “Too Numerous To Count” (TNTC) respectively and the lowest was the cold smoked fish with a mean TBC of 2.30×105 .The overall hygienic status of the vending environment and the sanitary condition and handling practices of the vendors were not to the standard. The results emphasized the microbial contamination of the fishes. This study recommends training of vendors on hygiene and sanitary standard in order to reduce microbial contamination of fishes.