Identification of E. coli 0157:h7, coliform, fecal coliform and total coliform from various food samples collected from Islamabad-Pakistan

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The public's health is currently being seriously threatened by food-borne illnesses.These illnesses are brought on by microbes or chemical contaminants in food or water.One of the most significant microorganisms used to check the safety of food and water is E. coli.In order to find E. coli 0157:H7, Coliform and total coliform, samples of Apple, Banana, Kheer, milk and rice were collected from Islamabad region, Pakistan.The media used for the total plate count were Brilliant green bile broth, LT broth, EC medium and plate count agar.Intense green bile (BGB) broth, lauryl tryptose broth, EC medium, Levine's eosine methylene blue agar, Tryptone broth, 1% MR-VP media and Levine's eosinmethylene blue assay were used for counting Coliform and total Coliform.The result of total plate count in Apple sample was 5.5x10 2 CFU/g, Total coliform was 0.3 and fecal coliform was less than 0.3x10 2 CFU/g.Total plate count for Banana sample was 1.3x10 2 CFU/g, total coliforms were <0.3 and fecal coliform was less than 0.3x10 2 CFU/g.The total plate count, total coliform and fecal coliform in Milk sample were 3.99x10 2 CFU/g, 0.4 and 0.4x10 2 , respectively.In Rice sample the same values were 4.25x10 2 CFU/g, 0.3 and 0.3x10 2 CFU/g, accordingly.It can be concluded that the microbial load in all food samples were in permissible limits according to FAQ's manual of food quality control.Presence of certain organism found in food samples could be associated with the contamination that has occurred during harvesting, straining, transportation, packaging and storage of food.