Microbiological quality of street vended food sold in district Mardan, Pakistan

The present study was undertaken to inspect the microbiological quality of street vended food sold in district Mardan, Pakistan. Three hundred and fifteen (315) food samples including white kidney beans, chickpea, white split lentil, rice, mixed vegetable salad, tamarind sauce and chicken soup, were aseptically collected from different locations of district Mardan. Analysis of the samples revealed that 81% of food samples were contaminated with bacterial pathogens. Among them coliforms were highest i.e., 88.6%, while Staphylococcus and Salmonella/Shigella were 7.9%. All the collected samples of rice, tamarind sauce, mixed vegetable salad and chicken soup were contaminated (100%), while 86% of white kidney beans, 80% of chickpea and none (0.0%) of white lentil. The tested samples are highly contaminated with coliforms, and it is suggested that regular monitoring of the quality of street foods must be practiced to avoid any food-borne infection in future.