Microbial characterization of street food collected from Dhaka city, Bangladesh

Ingesting tainted food is one of the methods of microbe transmission to humans. Most people in Bangladesh consume cheap foods prepared by unlicensed vendors. A total of 18 samples, including fuchka, chola, sugarcane juice, and other products, were randomly collected and analyzed for bacterial contamination. Each and every sample examined found to be contaminated with a variety of bacterial species. The total viable count (TVC) in different street food samples ranged from 0.45×10³ CFU/g to 3.37×10⁷CFU/g. Resistance to Imipenem, Meropenem, and Amikacin was quite low in Salmonella spp., Klebsiella spp., Vibrio spp., Staphylococcus aureus. Higher resistance to azithromycin and ciprofloxacin have been observed, and S. aureus exhibited a 67% resistance to methicillin. According to this study, Dhaka's street food in Bangladesh contains potentially pathogenic microorganisms. This necessitates careful observation of the microbiological safety of street food, and campaigns should be launched to educate the public about the poor and unhygienic quality of street food available in Dhaka, Bangladesh.