HYGIENE AND MICROBIAL SAFETY OF ROADSIDE ROASTED MEAT FROM NAMAWOJJOLO AND LUKAYA FOOD MARKETS, UGANDA

Abstract

Roadside roasted meats provide a rich source of proteins, especially for long-distance travelers. However, there are many food-borne illnesses associated with their consumption, necessitating continuous assessment of the quality and safety. The objective of this study was to investigate hygiene and microbial safety of roadside roasted meats from two food markets of Namawojjolo and Lukaya in Uganda. Using an observation checklist and questionnaire, 90 meat vendors were observed and interviewed on compliance with standard hygiene practices. Also, a total of 89 meat samples of chicken, beef and goats’ meat comprising 30 fresh (raw), 28 hot from fire and 31cold ready-to-eat meat that had been exposed to consumers for about 30 minutes, were obtained. The samples were analyzed using enriched specific media for E. coli, Salmonella, S. aureus, Listeria and Campylobactor. Descriptive analysis of the hygiene practices of the vendors in meat handling was done and scores above 70% were used to determine good hygiene practices. The study found that only 6.7% vendors had good hygiene practices and 88.9% did not store leftover meat in refrigerators. Laboratory findings revealed that bacterial contamination was higher than Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) levels. Raw samples exhibited the highest contamination across all pathogens where S. aureus in raw chicken (8 ± 0.56 log10 CFU/g) and raw goat (8 ± 0.97 log10 CFU/g) far exceeded the limit. Similarly, cold samples mostly matched or surpassed hot samples in contamination. For example, cold beef showed higher Listeria counts (5 ± 1.93 log10 CFU/g) than hot beef (3 ± 2.71 log10 CFU/g). All tested meat types showed microbial contamination above UNBS safety limits for all microbes examined which is ≤2 log10 CFU/g for S.aureus and E.coli or completely absent for Salmonella, Lysteria and Campylobacter. However, S. aureus was consistently the highest for all the three meat types for example 8.4 ± 9.0 log10 CFU/g for goat meat compared to 5.5 ± 5.7 shown for Salmonella in goat meat The study found that there were food safety concerns in roadside roasted meat vending, with contamination linked to poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitation measures. Fresh/raw meat had the highest contamination levels compared to hot and cold meat, highlighting significant public health risks. There is need to sensitize vendors on food safety and hygiene plus routine health inspections of these markets.