Microbiological quality of selected street food items vended by school-based street food vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the microbiological quality of local food items vended by the school-based street food vendors in Dhaka City. A total of 80 schools from 19 school-zones of Dhaka City and its outskirts were chosen for the study. A total of 110 food samples, one each from 110 school-based street food vendors, were collected for laboratory analysis. Face to face interviews were conducted with the food vendors using a pre-tested questionnaire. The food samples were analyzed for coliform counts in the Public Health Laboratory, Institute of Public Health, Dhaka, which is a national level central food testing laboratory in Bangladesh. Microbiological criteria recommended by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) were considered to classify food samples as 'satisfactory' (total coliforms < 100 per g or ml) and 'unsatisfactory' (total coliforms ≥ 100 per g or ml). Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the association of selected socio-demographic characteristics of school-based street food vendors with the presence of unsatisfactory levels of coliforms in their food items. Of the 110 school-based street food samples analyzed in the laboratory, 44% were unsatisfactory. Among different items of street vended foods, 54% of sliced fruits samples, 59% of jhalmuri samples, 29% of chotpotis samples, 53% of vajavuji samples, and all (100%) sharbat samples were unsatisfactory, while all samples from achar (100%) and ice cream (100%) were found to be satisfactory. Logistic regression models showed that the food samples collected from the vendors belonging to the age group '15-24 years' and the vendors possessing an educational status higher than primary level were less likely to be unsatisfactory, while the food samples collected from the vendors having a daily income of more than 200 Bangladeshi Taka (equivalent to 3.00 USD) were more likely to be unsatisfactory. Our study findings reflected poor microbiological quality for a considerable proportion of the school-based street vended foods indicating a health threat to the school children of Dhaka City.