Abstract:
Street foods dipped in different sauces are a popular snack in the Philippines,
particularly in Metro Manila. Consumption of these products together with its sauces
may pose a potential health risks due to the absence of an effective quality control.
Several cases of street food and its sauces containing bacterial food pathogens have
been reported. This study detected the presence of four common food-borne bacterial
pathogens namely Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and
Bacillus cereus in the different sauces of the street foods. Enumeration of E. coli, S.
aureus, and B. cereus in the sauces was also done. The study sampled two types of
sauces namely sweet, and sweet and spicy from five vendors stationed along the
length of Taft Avenue from Pedro Gil to United Nations were chosen. Three sampling
dates between July to August 2005 was done for each of the vendors. Results showed
that Salmonella sp., E. coli and S. aureus were present in the different sauces of street
foods. On the other hand, B. cereus was not detected. The average count of E. coli in
sweet sauces was 8.45 MPN/g while for sweet and spicy, was 5.48 MPN/g. For S.
aureus, the average count in sweet sauces was 1.46 x 10? cfu/g while for sweet and
spicy, was 3.1 x 10'cfu/g. The presence of Salmonella sp., E. coli, S. aureus, and
absence of B. cereus, consistent in all vendors and sampling, suggest a common
source of contamination; during the initial preparation of the sauces. However,
differences in the population of E. coli and S. aureus among vendors and samplings
could be due to variations in the individual vendors’ sanitary practices, storage
conditions and holding time of the sauces. The inhibitive properties of garlic, onion,
and pepper may have also contributed to the low bacterial counts of E. coli and S.
aureus in the sauces.
