ESCHERICHIA COLI TYPE-I ISOLATED FROM MID-FINGERS AS A NEW INDICATOR OF POTENTIAL MICROBIAL HEALTH HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH FOOD HANDLER EMPLOYEES

Background: Food hygiene may be defined as the sanitary science which aims to produce food which is safe for the consumer and of good keeping quality. It covers a wide field and includes the rearing, feeding, marketing and slaughter of animals as well as the sanitation procedures designed to prevent bacteria of human origin reaching food stuffs. Materials and Methods: Two hundred food handlers were examined while they were at work (in-use test) in Samarra town utilizing mid-finger of both right and left hands of the food handlers for detection of Escherichia coli Type-I as a bacterial indicator for microbial contamination. Results: Regarding right and left hand contamination with human – derived E.coli type I, it was noticed that the right hands were more contaminated (10.2%) than the left one (5.1%) among restaurant workers compared to right hands of the butchers (25%) and left hands of them (29.2), while the percentage of contamination among dairy product workers was 6.7% in the right hand and 13.3% of the left hand. Conclusions: The total frequency of the right hand contamination was 13.5% which was higher than the left hand contamination (11.5%). The habit of using right hands while using a toilet might be different depending on social and religious background as Moslems suppose to use left hand in washing after toilet usage. The usage of mid-fingers of food handlers for assessing the microbial contamination would be useful as a new approach for hygienic certificate giving for food industry employees.