Determination Of Bacterial Load Of Smoked Fish Sold In Umuahia Metropolis:- Onyemaechi, Ngozi F

The emergence offood poisoning pandemics around the world has raised public awareness offood Umuahia metropolis. Bacterial loads, isolation and identification were'enumerated using standard microbiological techniques. A total of 15 isolates from 6 bacteria genera were identified as Klebsiella sp, Escherichia coli, Proteus sp, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis i and Pseudomonas sp. Klebsiella sp and Escherichia coli were the most frequently occurring isolates, all the smoked fish samples harbored Klebsiella sp 4(26.67%), and Escherichia coli 4(26.67) followed by Proteus sp 3(20.00%), Staphylococcus aureus 2(13.33%), Staphylococcus epidermidis 1 (6.67%), Pseudomonassp 1 (6.67%). The microbial loads.at 24hrs incubation showed that most ofthe smoked fish exceed the FAO/WHO (Food and Agricultural Organization/ World Health Organization) standard limit for food and water. After 24hrs the smoked fish samples gave a total viable counts 1.5 x 102-1.0 x 107 CFU/g. This high level ofmicrobial contamination can be traceable to handlers, and environment to which this fish is exposed during smoking and selling exercises. Considering the danger it portends to human health, public health and food safety authorities should intensify their monitoring efforts towards controlling such contamination. The findings of this study indicates that none of the smoked fish were within acceptable FAO/WHO/NAFDAC (Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization/National Agency for Food Drugs and Administration Control) standards due to high colony counts, presence ofindicator organisms /index offood quality - E. coli, and S. auerus. This study suggests that most smoked fish sold in the market may be sources ofmicrobial food poison and intoxication hence, public awareness should be raised to curb the incidence of food borne disease from consuming smoked fish. ABSTRACT