Evaluation of hygiene practices and microbiological quality of raw and mildly heat- treated vegetable salads from restaurants within Ilemela municipality of Mwanza, Tanzania

Abstract

In Tanzania, the consumption of vegetable salads is increasing and becoming popular in food serviceestablishments of urban areas creating market for vegetables cultivated in rural and peri-urban areas.However, the products are among the high risky ready-to-eat foods (RTEs), as they are often servedraw without being heat-treated and with no preservatives. A survey was carried out from May toJune 2024 to evaluate hygiene handling and microbiological quality of raw and mild heat-treatedvegetable salads served in restaurants in Ilemela Municipality. Hygiene practices were assessed byinterviewing operators in thirty randomly selected restaurants. In parallel, thirty vegetable saladsamples were collected and analyzed for Total Plate Counts (TPC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli).The findings demonstrated that food handlers had high illiteracy level with no food hygiene training.Hygiene practices that are crucial for safe preparation of food; such as wearing gloves, protectiveclothing and use of safe water were not regularly observed. Regarding microbiological quality, none(0/30) of the mildly heat treated vegetable salads had TPC, while, all (30/30) raw salad samplesdemonstrated high TPC contamination levels ranging from 3.2 to 4.6 Log cfu/g, exceeding the setlimits. While, all (30/30) mildly heat treated salads were free of E. coli, 14/30 of the raw saladsamples were positive. Thus, the raw salads were unsatisfactory for consumption. Therefore, foodhygiene training and control by relevant authorities alongside treating vegetable salads with mildheat and food grade antimicrobial agents are essential in ensuring food quality and safety.