Abstract:
Food-borne diseases related to unhygienic food handling practices remain a major public health problem across the globe. The problem is severe in developing countries due to difficulties in securing optimal hygienic food handling practices. Weaning foods which are introduced into the child's diet along with breast milk prepared under unhygienic conditions are likely to be contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. The contribution of unhygienic weaning foods and quality of water used in preparation of foods and drinking are estimated to be high for transmission of diseases. Thus, this research was designed to address problems related to the quality of weaning foods preparation practices, storage and handling and their contribution to disease transmission. A total of 90 food samples were collected from mothers feeding their infants with weaning foods in Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Jimma town for microbial analysis. Cross sectional study design was employed and microbiological analysis was handled following standard microbiological methods. SPSS statistical soft ware (version 16) was employed for data analysis. Accordingly, 36.7%, 17.8%, 55.6%, and 31.1% of weaning food samples had counts ≥5 log CFU/ml of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, aerobic spore formers, Lactic Acid Bacteria, and Staphylococci respectively. Similarly, 52.2 and 37.8% of samples had Enterobacteriaceae and coliform counts of ≥4 log CFU/ml respectively. However, in most of weaning food samples yeasts (>83%), and moulds (100%) were not detected. The aerobic mesophilic flora of the weaning food samples was dominated by Staphylococcus spp. (21.4%) followed by Bacillus spp. (18.9%). Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from 9 (10%) and 28 (31.1%) weaning food samples, respectively. However, Shigella spp. were not isolated from any of the weaning food samples. Increasing general hygiene of rural communities and giving more emphasis to safety of infant’s food are recommended.
