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This study aims to assess the quality and microbial safety of traditional smoked spotted tilapia fish from Lagos State and, by doing so, determine the quality and microbial safety level of traditional smoked spotted tilapia fish, their distribution, effects and possible public health implications of the quality/rancidity indices and microorganisms on the consumers.

Fresh spotted tilapia fish (100 samples) were collected from 20 different fishing/processing centres and divided into two batches. One batch was smoked with local drum kiln at processing centres, and the second batch was smoked with convective smoking kiln as control in the laboratory. Each batch was assessed for moisture content, protein content, fat content, crude fibre content, ash content, pH, thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile base- nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine (TMA), peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acid (FFA) values. Microbiological analyses were also conducted. Each batch was assessed for total viable count (TVC), fungal count, Listeria monocytogenes count, Staphylococcus aureus count, Salmonella paratyphi count and presence or absence of Escherichia coli.

The results of the proximate composition, quality indices and microbiological analyses revealed that there was significant variations (p < 0.05) between smoked fish with different smoking methods. The mean pH, TBA, TVB-N, TMA, PV and FFA values of fresh and smoked spotted tilapia fish samples were within the range recommended by United States Food and Drug Administration. The mean TVC of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples was 6.3 × 106-8.8 × 108 cfu/g and TVC of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish and the control were 2.0 × 104-6.4 × 104 cfu/g and 1.0 × 103-8.6 × 103 cfu/g, respectively. The mean L. monocytogenes count of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples was 1.3 × 102-2.4 × 102 cfu/g and that of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 1.6 × 101 to 23.1 × 101 cfu/g while samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish using convective smoking kiln showed no count for L. monocytogenes. The mean S. aureus count of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples ranged from 4.7 × 103 to 8.0 × 103 cfu/g and that of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 5.1 × 102 to 88.6 × 102 cfu/g and 1.1 × 102 to 3.8 × 102 cfu/g. The mean fat content (FC) count of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 1.1 × 101 to 6.0 × 101 cfu/g. S. paratyphi and E. coli were not detected in all smoked spotted tilapia fish samples. The study, however, concluded that the traditional drum smoked spotted tilapia fish could expose consumers to high microbial risk because of the presence of L. monocytogenes.

The fresh fish used in this study were obtained from coastal villages in Lagos State, and there were limitations in getting the samples in time to the processing centres and in preserving the fresh fish because of poor or non-availability of power (electricity).

The paper includes implications for the development of a cost-effective smoked fish, to ensure food safety, enhanced health and improve the preservation and post-harvest losses of fresh fish.

The paper helps in developing an effective smoked method that will produce good-quality smoked fish, reduce the incidence of food poison and enhance the health of consumers.

This research is of value to the traditional fish smokers and consumers. Smoked fish has been implicated as a source of microbial infection in Nigeria and West African sub-region in recent times and the need for good manufacturing practices cannot be overemphasized.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of microbial elimination using different sanitizers in raw vegetables (cherry tomatoes, spring onions, Chinese chives, and chicory) and to analyze the efficacy of Escherichia coli O157:H7 reduction by type of sanitizer and vegetable.

To assess the sanitizing effects of microbial elimination by variety of vegetable, the samples were grouped into four different washing methods: control (no sanitizer), 100 ppm chlorine, 100 ppm electrolyzed water, and 200 ppm electrolyzed water after prewashing. Subsequently, quantitative microbiological experiments were conducted to assess aerobic mesophilic plate count (APC), coliform, E. coli, and Bacillus cereus, and sensory changes of the sanitized vegetables were tested. Thereafter, measurement of the sanitizing effects on bacterial reduction after inoculation with E. coli O157:H7 was conducted.

The microbial levels of four types of vegetables ranged from 3.37 to 5.24 log CFU/g for APC, 2.41 to 5.57 log CFU/g for E. coli, 0.25 to 5.40 log CFU/g for coliform, and 0.83 to 5.44 log CFU/g for B. cereus. After three types of sanitizing treatments, microbial reduction effects showed 0.94-1.84 log CFU/g for APC, 0.56-1.00 log CFU/g for E. coli, 0.18-1.26 log CFU/g for coliform, and 0.56-1.23 log CFU/g for B. cereus (p<0.05). In sensory evaluation, there were no significant differences in taste and flavor between with and without sanitizing treatments. Regarding bacterial reduction after inoculation with E. coli O157:H7, the microbial reduction on vegetables was shown to be in the range of 0.27-1.57 log CFU/g with 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite, 0.66-3.07 log CFU/g with 100 ppm electrolyzed water, and 0.79-2.55 log CFU/g with 200 ppm electrolyzed water. Chicory, cherry tomato, and spring onion showed significant reduction levels of E. coli O157:H7 after sanitation (p<0.05).

This study revealed that different sanitization methods are required for different types of vegetables. Electrolyzed water treatment (100 ppm) is a more effective and safe method of washing raw vegetables. Given that the main purpose of sanitizing fresh-cut produce is to maximally reduce microorganism levels, different methods of sanitizing fresh-cut produce with an adequate washing method should be used according to vegetable type.

Covers the quantitative and qualitative aspects of micro‐organisms present in fish and the factors which affect sea food quality. Several methods can be employed to counter deterioration ‐ low temperature, storage, dehydration, canning, modified atmosphere, packaging, irradiation and chemical or biological preservatives.

Fresh catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is highly perishable. This paper aims to investigate the drying characteristics and quality of body-mass dehydrated catfish to determine the effective dehydration parameters for preservation.

Brine concentration (3-9 per cent), brining time (30-90 min) and drying temperature (90-130°C) interacted using the response surface methodology. Preliminary experiments were conducted to select treatments. Moisture content and ratio and drying rate were determined and fitted into five thin-layer drying models; the goodness of fit was evaluated by average grade ranking of the regression parameters. Proximate compositions and microbial load of dehydrated catfish were determined using standard methods.

Treatments with 110°C gave initial higher drying rate (0.034-0.043 kg H₂O/kg solid/h) and shorter drying time (20-21 h). Drying occurred at two falling rate periods. Midilli model ranked first in fitting the drying data. It explained up to 99.6-99.7 per cent of the total variations in the independent variables with low values of error terms; RMSE was 0.02131-0.01794 and χ² was 0.00037-0.00043, indicating good predictive quality. Processing parameters positively and significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the proximate compositions of dehydrated catfish. Treatment: 6 per cent brine, 90 min and 110°C presented the most effective dehydration parameters for quality preservation of body-mass catfish.

The dehydration technique used in this study could enhance nutritive quality and storage stability of body-mass dehydrated catfish that could serve as a useful and convenient tool for commercial application.

Hygienically processed dehydrated catfish of good quality could be used as a source of nutrients to ameliorate malnutrition and reduce post-harvest losses of catfish.

The effective processing parameters established is an important step to harness the high nutrients and economic values embedded in catfish.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the chemical and microbiological quality of biscuits and bread through the partial substitution of the wheat flour.

Completely randomized experiment with four treatments and nine replications was used in this study. The quality of biscuits and bread formulations was monitored by chemical parameters (moisture, ashes, protein, lipids, pH, water activity, acidity and carbohydrates) and microbiological parameters (coliforms at 35 and 45ºC, coagulase positive Staphylococcus and Salmonella sp.).

The formulation of biscuits containing 25, 50 and 75% of cassava flour and formulation of bread containing 10, 20 and 30% of cassava flour had higher carbohydrate content compared to the control formulation (p = 0.014). This was associated with the incorporation of cassava flour, which is an excellent producer of carbohydrates compared to other cereals. All formulations showed values <3 for coliforms at 35 and 45ºC and coagulase positive Staphylococci, as well as an absence for Salmonella sp.

The present attempt was made to formulate biscuits and bread with a reduction in wheat flour and the addition of manioc flour, with the objective of reaching products with higher carbohydrate content and low gluten content, to improve the nutritional level and commercial value of these products.

The purpose of present study was to evaluate the quality characteristics of cow?s milk in the holy city Mathura, which is famous for it?s gau dhan and Lord Krishna.

The milk samples were collected from dairy shops, vendors and milk producers and evaluated on the basis of various organoleptic tests, physico-chemical properties, proximate estimation and microbiological studies following the standard procedures.

The milk samples of Township and Chungi areas had more clear appearance and normal texture/consistency than other three areas. No cow milk sample was observed with pure white colour; however, 74 per cent of the samples had normal light yellow colour. No milk sample had rancid/oxidized odour; however, few milk samples contained weedy or absorbed odour. Watery consistency was observed in 50 per cent of the samples, whereas thick, ropy or slimy consistency was observed in 4, 4 and 20 per cent of the samples, respectively. The temperature, pH and specific gravity of milk collected from different regions were lower, but titratable acidity was higher than normal prescribed range (<0.14 per cent). The moisture content of all the samples was higher; however, other proximate parameters showed quite variable values than normal values of cow milk. Out of the total, 28 per cent of the samples of cow milk were positive for formalin. The microbial load was higher than normal prescribed limit.

Food safety and food security are very much at the top of the agenda in India, so it is of utmost importance to screen the quality of milk and milk products in the market for avoidance of skimming practices and/or adulteration of milk with water and human health problems.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality and safety of street-vended warankasi, a Nigerian soft white cheese.

A total of 80 samples were collected in two batches of 40 samples each in January and June, 2015 from eight major markets from Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The samples were analyzed for the proximate components, quality indices (total soluble nitrogen, TSN and volatile fatty acid, VFA), and for the presence of pathogenic bacteria, Campylobacter jejuni (CJ), Listeria monocytogenes (LM), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT), Salmonella spp. (SS), Escherichia coli (EC), and Yersinia enterocolitica (YE), and heavy metals such as (lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and chromium (Cr) concentrations.

The results revealed that the values of moisture, protein, fat, crude fiber, and ash contents (%) of warankasi samples were in the range 46.26±1.41-51.24±1.61, 33.92±1.18-37.26±1.42, 6.74±0.64-8.33±0.96, 1.27±0.02-1.73±0.09, 1.31±0.03-1.78±0.08, respectively. The values of TSN (mgN/kg) and VFA (%) were in the range of 1.19+0.10-2.54+0.18, and 5.79+0.19-9.12+0.30, respectively. The results further revealed the presence of CJ and SS and the absence of LM, MT, EC, and YE from the warankasi samples. Heavy metals detected in all the warankasi samples were generally below the maximum acceptable limits set by the World Health Organization for Pb (0.3 ppm), Cd (0.2 ppm), Hg (0.2 ppm), and Cr (0.5 ppm) with the exemption of samples from Iwo Road and Ojoo which were higher than other samples.

This research work was conducted between January and June, 2015 and better results could be obtained if the study had been done for a longer period of time.

The paper helps in showing the quality and microbial safety of street-vended warankasi and this may bring imperative information and general consciousness on the microbiological safety of warankasi.

Much has been done concerning warankasi processing but little work has been done concerning street-vended warankasi. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess it.

Due to the rise in urbanization, demand for easily prepared foods such as pastries and noodles has risen. But the high price of wheat in the global market puts financial stress on low-income people, especially on those living in tropical regions, where wheat does not thrive well. They depend solely on imported wheat, which is expensive due to importation cost, or seek other relatively less-nutritious cereals. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of supplementing wheat flour with flour from relatively cheap and easy-to-produce root tuber, such as cassava, potato and sweet potato.

Strong-, medium- and weak-gluten wheat flours were supplemented with flour from cassava, potato and sweet potato at 10, 20 and 30 percent. Strong gluten composites were used to make bread, whereas medium and weak gluten composites were used for cookie and noodle production, respectively. Protein, ash, fat, crude fiber, moisture, carbohydrate, gluten, zeleny and energy contents of each composite were tested.

The nutritional and sensory quality of bread, cookies and noodles made from wheat flour supplemented with root tuber flour at 10, 20 and 30 percent was assessed. Results revealed that mixing wheat flour and root tuber flour has important effects on the moisture, protein, carbohydrate, fat, ash, gluten, zeleny sedimentation value and crude fiber content of the resulting mixture. Moisture and carbohydrate increased while protein and fat significantly (p<0.05) decreased with increasing root tuber flour levels in formulations. Gluten content also decreased significantly with rising root tuber flour concentrations. There was a mild reduction in bread’s general acceptability at 10 and 20 percent in potato composites; thus potato flour was still acceptable at 20 percent. Cassava flour composite also topped with a general acceptability score of 69.26 at 20 percent in cookies, whereas sweet potato composite achieved a score of 84.81 in noodles.

This work has successfully confirmed that wheat flour could be supplemented up to 20 percent with root tuber flour without compromising the nutritional and sensory quality of products. It has also demonstrated that different products require different root tuber flour substitution for optimum results. Potato at 10 percent substitution was found to be best for bread production. Cassava and sweet potato at 10 percent substitution were also best for cookies and noodles, respectively. With respect to protein content only, sweet potato substitution is better than cassava and potato.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a dietary probiotic on the growth performance and survival rate of Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp. Furthermore, the microbial quality of shrimp was evaluated.

Shrimp were divided into treatment and control groups (each group containing 45 shrimp). They were fed for four weeks with a control diet alone or supplemented with a commercial probiotic (Protexin®). At the end of the trial, they were assessed for survival rate, weight gain, average daily gain and specific growth rate. Samples of tail meat were also provided aseptically from peeled shrimp for bacteriological analysis including the count of Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, fecal coliform, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and total bacterial count.

The growth performance of the probiotic-treated group significantly (p < 0.05) increased at the end of the experimental period. However, no significant differences were observed for the survival rate between the groups (p > 0.05). The count of C. perfringens and the total bacterial count in shrimp supplemented with the probiotic were significantly lower than those of controls (p < 0.05). The count of coliforms and S. aureus was not significantly different between the groups (p > 0.05).

It could be concluded that the probiotic bacteria have the potential to stimulate the growth performance of L. vannamei. They can also be used for biological control of food-borne pathogens and improve the microbial quality and safety of shrimp at the farm level.

Guidelines have been produced in nearly all developed countries to provide cost‐effective hospital care. The study's purpose, therefore, was to determine whether a London hospital's anti‐microbial guidelines conform to this principle.

The paper's approach was a literature search to determine anti‐microbial therapies for certain diseases and comparing outcomes with what hospital guidelines recommend.

There are significant discrepancies in the hospital anti‐microbial guidelines and what is recommended in the literature.

Local microbial patterns for these diseases were not studied as they were not formally available and these could have had an impact on guidelines recommendations.

Local guidelines influence day‐to‐day hospital clinical practice and their robustness is important. They need to comply with national and/or international guidelines. Deviations from these guidelines need appropriate comments within the documents to highlight their validity. Such an approach would facilitate medical students and junior doctor training who depend on these guidelines for good clinical practice.

The study provides an important contribution to developing hospital clinical guidelines.