Bacteriological quality of ready to use salads at restaurants in Bandar Abbas Abstract

Raw vegetables and fruits can play as an infection risk factor for gastrointestinal system and it created a health concern for using these foods. Widespread outbreaks of illness associated with the consumption of foods that have affected thousands of people around the world, highlight the potential hazards of this food has. This study aimed to evaluate the microbial quality of ready to eat vegetable salads in restaurants in Bandar Abbas.
There are 90 restaurants in the Bandar Abbas and 30% of them were selected in a randomized cluster model. Salad samples were tested for total bacteria count, staphylococcus aureus, total coliform and E. coli. Statitistical analysis was performed using SPSS 16 and ANOVA, Fisher's exact test, and Paired T-test were used.
According to the results, 60% of the samples were contaminated to E.coli. Most infections were observed in Season salad (83.3) while cucumber and carrot salad had no contamination. Among all samples, contamination rate for the total count microbes was 10% and Season salad was the most contaminated. Most contamination rate to S. aureus was related to pasta salad (40%) and the highest rate of infection to Enterococcus Sp was observed in lettuce and Season salads (43.8 and 38.9 respectively).
Hygiene compliance in various stages of food preparation and storing and respecting the environmental sanitation is necessary to promote the bacteriological quality of ready to use salads at restaurants.