Abstract

Two types of pastry snacks (Moin-moin and Buns) were bought from four different hawkers in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, from four locations viz. Student Residential area, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Engineering and the Old Administrative area. Ten representative bacterial isolates from each of the snacks from the locations were tentatively identified separately from the external and internal parts of the snacks. The cumulative Total Colony Forming Units (TCFU) from the snacks’ exterior of the locations included,Staphylococcus sp. 30 (50.0)*; Bacillus and other Gram positive rods 14 (23.3); Escherichia coli4 (6.7); Proteus sp 6 (10.0); Enterococcus sp.; Flavobacterium/ Xanthomonas spp. andPseudomonas spp. 2 (3.3) each. While for the interior it was Staphylococcus sp. 38 (63.3); Bacillus and other Gram positive rods 4 (6.3); E. coli 6 (10.0); Proteus sp. 4 (6.7); Enterococcussp.; Flavobacterium/ Xanthomonas spp. 2 (3.3) and Pseudomonas spp. 4 (6.7) each. The exterior of the snacks were significantly more colonised than the interior (P = <0.001) with TCFU of bacteria ranging from 5.42E+05 to 3.58E+06. Both the exterior and the interior of the snacks were however below the expected standard of 10 coliform counts per gram for pastry foods. A comparison of the bacterial load of the exterior to the interior of the snacks further indicated that there was significant variability in the TCFU according to the locations from which the snacks were purchased (P = <0.001). This was further confirmed by the observed distribution of Coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus in the locations. The likely public health implication of the presence of some of the representative bacterial forms was discussed including relevant recommendations. *Numbers in parenthesis represent percentages.

Key words: Snack, moin-moin, buns, gastroenteritis, Enterobacteriaceae, Micrococcacae.