Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Summer 2022

Changes in food consumption patterns have resulted in the high demand and patronage of online food ordering and delivery services in Ghana. The attention of every individual involved in the food chain is needed to ensure food safety. Since a food delivery service and person are introduced in online food ordering and delivery services, new and unique food safety challenges and concerns are created. This paper hence investigates the food safety concerns and challenges posed by online food ordering and delivery services and further provides solutions to tackle and improve food safety in the service. Additional concerns raised by food ordering and delivery services include an absence of food transport or delivery regulation in Ghana, a lack of food safety education and training for food delivery persons as well as food fraud actions like mislabeling and substitution. To boost food safety in online food ordering and delivery services, the service should be regulated by the Ghana FDA with policies and manuals that address these food safety concerns. Food meant for delivery should be packaged well to prevent contact with insects and other contaminants. Timely delivery should be a priority to make sure delivered foods are still in the right and safe temperatures for consumption.

Bacillus cereus is widely distributed in different food products and causes a variety of symptoms associated with food poisoning. Rice has been suggested as a vehicle for contamination and being involved in B. cereus intoxication. Based on the aforementioned risks, studies of Bacillus cereus incidence along with its isolation and characterization are essential to establishing the safety of cooked rice. Using the selective culture technique, pure isolates of Bacillus cereus strains were characterized and identified based on cultural, and biochemical features. Characterization was done on the ability of the bacterial strains to hydrolyse casein and starch, ferment lactose, and lyse red blood cells (haemolysis). Out of the 47 samples screened, 45 isolates were detected in 14 samples. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that all isolates showed resistance to Ampicillin (10 μg), but were susceptible to Erythromycin (15 μg), Vancomycin (30 μg), Tetracycline (30 μg), Ampicillin (10 μg), Gentamicin (10 μg), and Chloramphenicol (30 μg). 62.2%, 64.4%, 0% and 46.7% were capable of producing amylase, protease, ferment lactose and lyse red blood cells respectively. This study shows that 14 samples out of 47 samples of cooked rice in this work have the possible risk of foodborne infections/ intoxication that occurs as a result of the possibility of the development of B. cereus in favourable conditions and consumption of these products. Basically, prevention is by proper handling of raw materials, controlling the temperature of cooking and storing rice, and personal hygiene of food handlers.

It is known that sponges remove the food residues from the utensils, sinks and equipment used in home kitchens. Porous kitchen sponges provide the perfect physical place for a bacterial community in this study, it was aimed to determine the hygienic conditions of sponges used in home kitchens in Manisa, Turkiye. Samples were collected from 100 different addresses in Manisa city center. Results of the microbiological analysis showed that the average total mesophilic aerobic bacteria count of samples was 6.42 log cfu/sponge, whereas total coliform and total yeast and mold counts of the samples were 1.63 log cfu/sponge and 2.12 log cfu/g respectively. Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were not detected in any of the samples. The data obtained in this study supports the previous findings of other researchers that kitchen sponges provide a hospitable environment for microorganisms.

β-galactosidase is an enzyme that converts lactose into glucose and galactose. It alleviates the issue associated with intolerance to lactose and pollution caused as a result of milk by-products (whey). This study aimed to isolate and select yeast strains that can produce β-galactosidase from fresh milk, yoghurt and locally made cheese. A total of 115 yeasts were isolated from the samples, 9 yeast isolates had the ability to produce β-galactosidase and three (3) were selected for further analysis. β-galactosidase producers were screened using Ortho-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) assay. Kluyveromyces marxianus strain SLDY – 005 produced the highest β-galactosidase. It showed maximum enzyme activity (277U/mL) at a temperature of 30oC, pH 5.5, after an incubation period of 36 h. Glucose decreased β-galactosidase production while yeast extract and urea were considered appropriate nitrogen sources for the best enzyme synthesis. Crude β-galactosidase produced by Kluyveromyces marxianus SLDY – 005 was purified. The partially purified enzyme after dialysis showed a specific activity of 165.12 U/mL and had a purification fold of 6.02 and yield of 45.91 %. The purified enzyme had an optimum temperature of 40oC and a pH 6.0. Kluyveromyces marxianus strain isolated from local cheese is a potential candidate for the production of β-galactosidase and could be used to combat the problem of lactose intolerance.

Assessing bottled mineral water with drinking water guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ethiopian Standard Agency (ESA) are highly relevant for practitioners, bottling companies, managers, regulators, and policymakers regarding water supply particularly bottled water. The present study was carried out to report the physicochemical quality of six branded bottled mineral water widely available in the Ethiopian market and compare them with drinking water standards. The investigated physicochemical parameters were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride ion (CL ), nitrate ion (NO3 ), potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), zinc (Zn+), iron (Fe3+), calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium ion (Mg2+) using standard analytical techniques. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) was used to determine the number of metal elements. The Ultra Violet-Visible Spectrophotometer (UV-VIS) analysis was used to determine the amount of NO- in the bottled mineral water. The TDS and CL-values were determined by using gravimetric and volumetric methods. The study results revealed that the values of the quality parameter concentrations measured experimentally were slightly varied from the labeled values on the bottle. However, all brands were within EAS and WHO limit values for drinking water. The calculated correlation coefficient between the bottled water and the soil sample, between some dissolved solids and the TDS concentration in bottled mineral water, and between TDS and the pH concentration in bottled mineral waters was 0.99, 0.77 and 0.94, respectively. The study also verified that all the studied bottled water brands are safe for human consumption.

Using a multivariate approach, this study investigated the trace element composition and concentration in Gallus gallus domesticus eggs. A total of 51 freshly laid Gallus gallus domesticus egg samples were randomly obtained and analyzed for trace elements using a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that the levels of zinc, lead, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and copper were in the range of 2.16 ± 0.03 – 7.43 ± 0.98 mg/L, <0.001 ± 0.00 – 9.86 ± 1.01 mg/L, <0.001 ± 0.00 – 1.44 ± 0.30 mg/L, <0.001 ± 0.00 – 0.35 ± 0.01 mg/L, <0.001 ± 0.00 – 0.76 ± 0.04 mg/L, 2.93 ± 1.01 – 11.52 ± 1.54 mg/L and 0.03 ± 0.05 – 0.967 ± 0.06 mg/L, respectively. However, mercury, chromium, and cadmium were not detected in all the samples. This suggests the absence of toxicity risk due to these non-essential elements in the eggs, especially when they are consumed. Moreover, the target hazard quotient and total target hazard quotient of the eggs were less than 1, thereby suggesting no probable harm, as well as non-carcinogenic hazards respectively.