For over a century, opaque beer has been regarded as a socio-cultural fermented beverage in many African countries that holds cultural meaning. In Zambia, this old-time fun favorite weak alcoholic beverage, highly popular among the old has been dated to have been first introduced in the 1950s way before the country attained its independence by Delta Beverages Breweries. In this study, we assessed the microbial load in opaque beer sold in bars and shebeens in Kabwe district of Zambia. The qualitative data were obtained by laboratory analysis. 38 samples were taken at random from bars and shebeens in the Kabwe district. Using conventional methods, the microorganisms were isolated and identified for Total viable count, coliforms, staphylococcus aureus, E-coli, yeast and molds. From the results, The PCA revealed that Total Coliform Count (TCC), Staphylococcus aureus, E-coli and Total Viable Count (TVC) were the most statistically significant factors (p0.05) to the primary components, suggesting their variability was not the main differentiator in this dataset. Furthermore, analysis of individual samples revealed significant variability, with sample 24 exhibiting the highest microbial load and sample 35 the lowest. This disparity underscores inconsistencies in production and handling. The findings collectively emphasize critical hygiene and food safety challenges in opaque beer production.
Malimba Chileshe1*, Masule Emmanuel2*, Muzyamba Sidney 3, Kafunda Tuesday4, Banda Justina5 (Sun,) studied this question.