ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to analyze the microbial quality of shawarma purchased in Umuahia, Abia State. Three (3) Shawarma samples were randomly sampled from (3) local eateries (Sample A, B and C) samples were analyzed for the presence of microorganism in the ready to eat food samples. Inoculations were done using the spread plate technique. The total viable count (TVC) of bacterial population in all shawarma samples were in the range of 1 .43x103to 2.9 x103cfulg. The total coliform count ranged from 4.9x103to 6.7x103, with Mr Biggs having the highest count. The frequency of occurrences of the five (5) genera of pathogenic bacteria isolated from all shawarma samples showed that Proteus species. (31.3%) was the most predominant. This was followed by Escherichia coli (18.8 %), Bacillus species. (18.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (18.8%), Klebsiellcz species 2 (12.5%) was least predominant. The study showed that the Shawarma samples, which were prepared in the right sanitary condition, showed that contamination may be as a result of poor manufacturing practices employed by the food vendors. This is of public health concern as these organisms are known causes of foodborne diseases and food intoxications