The purpose of this study was to determine the microbiological quality of green chutney, a popular traditional Indian food sold by the street vendors in Patiala city. Street vendors serving at least 100 customers, comprising of upper, middle and low-income groups per day were identified in five major areas of the city (which represented almost the whole of the city). A total of 150 samples of green chutney were collected in sterile containers, transported to the laboratory on ice and analyzed within two hours using standard microbiological methods- Total Aerobic Plate Counts (TAC), Total Staphylococcal Counts (TSC), Total Faecal Coliforms Counts (TFCC) and Total Faecal Streptococcal Counts (TFSC) as well as for specific bacterial pathogens:
Salmonella
,
Shigella
and enterotoxigenic
S.aureus. For detecting
Salmonella, portions were pre-enriched in Universal pre-enrichment broth followed by enrichment on Rappaport Vassilidis medium and selection on Xylose-Lysine Deoxycholate agar, presumptive colonies were serotyped; for
Shigella loopful of enrichment broth were streaked onto
Salmonella, Shigella and Xylose -Lysine Deoxycholate agar and presumptive colonies were subjected to requisite biochemical tests.
S.aureus was selected on Baird -Parker agar, characterized for production of coagulase, Thermostable DNAse activity, catalase and hemolysine production and mannitol fermentation. Colonies of coagulase positive
S.aureus were further tested for the production of enterotoxins A, B, C and D by reverse passive latex agglutination kits (SET -RPLA). The mean TAC and TSC values obtained were 5.4 (±0.4) log cfu/g and 5.9 (±0.2) log cfu/g; whereas the mean TFCC and TFCC values were 4.8 (±0.4) log cfu/g 4.9 (±0.3) log cfu/g, respectively. Coagulase positive
S.aureus was detected in 66 (44%) samples, of which 27 produced enterotoxins A and B. None of the samples showed the presence of
Shigella, however,
Salmonella enteridis
was found in 3 (2%) samples. The results of this study demonstrate the poor microbiological status of a popular, traditional Indian street vended food which is consumed raw, and suggest government intervention to ensure that the standards of safety are attained for this food.