ISSN: 2578-5001
Authors: Lateefat HM*, Henry SO and Adewoye S
In Nigeria, with a populace of more than 170 million individuals it was accounted for that just 90,000 cases of food borne ailments happen every year. There was also a report of 60 cases and 3 deaths due to food borne disease with symptomatic gastro intestinal disorders among people who ate in a funeral service. In Nigeria, food safety is not given high preference. Since the hospitality industries manages giving food, drink or convenience to individuals who are away from home, food contamination may emerge at whatever point there is unhygienic food preparation. The study seeks to assess the bacteriological assessment of food and water prepared in standard hotels in Abuja. The study made use of a descriptive cross-sectional study with stratified purposive sampling technique, hotels with 3, 4 and 5 star ratings in Abuja were selected for this study, 45 foods and water samples were aseptically collected for this study. The instrument for data collection was sterile container for sample collection. Data were analysed using, SPSS version 23.0 to present inferential statistics (ANOVA) and descriptive statistics (charts and tables). Staphylococcus aureus (69.75%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20%), E. coli (33.75%) and Bacillus spp (18.2%) were isolated in the food samples while E. coli (48%), S. aureus (77.5%), P. aeroginosa (27%), P. vulgaris (12%) Shigella dysentriae (6%) were isolated in water samples. The percentage occurrence of bacteria isolated in the samples were in compliance with the WHO limit for microorganisms in food and water (105) cfu/m. This could be as a result of the poor food handling practices carried out in the hotels. However, According to WHO, there should be zero tolerance of E. coli and Samonella typhii, in food and water because at low levels they can still pose risk to health. The results from this study will enable health inspectors and food handlers in hotels to implement stringent food safety methods like HACCP in hotels of their standard to bring about satisfaction and safety of food in their hotels.
Keywords: Water; Food contamination; Hotels; Foodborne pathogens; Bacteria; Foodborne infections; Abuja
