Full Length Research Paper

Comparative studies and microbial risk assessment of different Ready-to-Eat (RTE) frozen sea-foods processed in Ijora-olopa, Lagos State, Nigeria

Okonko, Iheanyi Omezuruike¹*, Ogunjobi, Adeniyi Adewale², Fajobi, Enobong Aloysius³, Onoja Bernard Anyebe¹, Babalola, Eunice Temilade¹, and Adedeji Adetola Olamide¹

¹Department of Virology, University of Ibadan College of Medicine, University college Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. WHO Regional Reference Polio Laboratory, WHO Collaborative Centre for Arbovirus Reference and Research, WHO National Reference Centre for Influenza.

²Enviromental Microbiology and Biotechnology Unit, Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

³Department of Basic Sciences, Federal College of Wildlife Management, New Bussa, Niger State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: mac2finney@yahoo.com.

Accepted 30 June, 2008

This study reports the comparative studies and microbial risk assessment of different frozen seas-foods processed in Ijora-olopa, Lagos State, Nigeria. Different varieties of popularly consumed frozen sea-foods bought from different processing shops in Ijora-olopa, Lagos were microbiologically analyzed for the presence of microorganisms. Total plate counts, enterobacteriaceae counts and Salmonella-Shigella (SS) counts were enumerated using Plate Count Agar (PCA), Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) Agar and Salmonella-Shigella Agar (SSA), respectively. The total counts for all the processed frozen seafood products ranged between 1.08 x 10² to 2.86 x 10⁴ CFU/ml. These were generally high exceeding the limit of 1.0 x 10² CFU/ml. The coliform count ranged between 0.76 x 10² and 1.36 x 10⁴ cells. The Salmonella-Shigella (SS) count ranged between 0.26 x 10² and 0.96 x 10⁴ cells. Seventeen (17) isolates were characterized from the samples on PCA with percentage of occurrence of different microorganisms characterized as follows: Bacillus cereus (29.4%), Enterobacter aerogenes (29.4%), Salmonella sp. (17.6%), Flavobacterium sp. (11.8%), Micrococcus sp. (5.9%), and Staphylococcus auerus (5.9%). Consumption of some of this water and the seafood product processed with these water samples available in the market should be discouraged.   

Key words: Food safety, HACCP, foodborne pathogens, microbiological quality, frozen seafood.