Abstract:
Canned foods are not fully sterile from microbes. These food products are thermally processed
and are very diverse. This can include low, medium and high viscosity liquids, and other solid
canned food products. The primary objective of this study was to isolate and characterize spore
forming bacteria from canned and processed foods available to consumers on the (super market
and shops) Town. A total of 60 samples comprising 20 each of (fish, meat and powdered milk)
were aseptically collected from Debretabor Town super markets and shops. Date of production,
expiration and ingredients of each sample were recorded. The samples were homogenized and
serial dilution was conducted and cultured on appropriate culture media following standard
procedures. Isolates were further confirmed by using morphological and biochemical tests.
Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed for the isolated bacteria using disk diffusion
method on Muller Hinton Agar plate. The result confirmed that two genera namely Bacillus and
Clostridium were the most frequently isolated bacteria. Most of the isolates were resistant to
Ampecilin, Cephalotin, Methicilin and Tetracycline. On the other hand these isolates were
sensitive to Chloraphenicol, Erythromycin, Gentimycin and vancomycin. Both aerobic and
anaerobic spore-former heat-resistant microorganisms which are isolated in this study have a
role in poisoning and spoilage of canned foods and this might cause subsequent food borne
outbreaks. Hence it is possible to recommend other researchers to come and do a research on
the area and food factories to recheck their canned food products as well as have consider where
they store the canned food products
