Microbial Quality of Home-made Street Vended Beverages in Reused Bottles Sold in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

This study aimed to assess the microbial quality of home-made street vended beverages sold in reused bottles in selected locations in Makurdi, Nigeria. Standard microbiological techniques were applied to enumerate and identify the predominant pathogens in the drinks collected from different sale points. The result of the analyses revealed high total viable counts ranging from 5.66- 7.85 log CFU/ml in Kunu, Zobo, and Soymilk sold in reused bottles from different sale points within three selected locations. In addition, variable counts of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Salmonella spp, and Shigella spp as the predominant bacteria were observed in Kunu, Zobo, and Soymilk samples from various locations. The pathogen counts ranged from 0.0-5.08 log CFU/ml for Staphylococcus spp, 4.14-5.15 log CFU/ml for E. coli, 0.0-5.30 log CFU/ml for Salmonella spp and 0.0-4.70 log CFU/ml, with E. coli having the highest frequency of occurrence. The pathogen counts were above the permissible levels stated by the Centre for Food Safety, therefore the use of reused plastic bottles for home-made beverages should be avoided or carried out with proper cleaning and sanitization to minimize contamination.