Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to December 2012, in Salalah Municipality, Sultanate of Oman. A total number of 142 samples were collected from 21 restaurants from 7 different areas (3 restaurants in each), namely; Al-Haafah, Al-Sinaat Al-Jadeedah, Al-Goof, Awgaad, Al-Saadah North and South and Salalal Al-Wustaa. Samples were randomly collected as follow: 41 ready to eat food, 38 water, and 63 swab samples. The food samples included cooked meats (chicken, fish and beef) and beans (lentil) and vegetables (potatoes and others). The swab samples were collected from hands worker ؛ the surfaces؛ kitchenware (knives, and cutting boards) used for food preparation. Parallel to that questionnaire-guided interviews with 21 worker were conducted. Isolation and identification of bacteria revealed two prevailing species of bacteria; E. coli was prevalent in 5.0% (95% CI, 0.71 - 9.29) and Staphylococcus aureus was in 3.0% (95% CI, -1.08 - 7.08) of the investigated samples. However, no any Salmonella species, Bacillus species, Listeria species and Yeast and molds were detected in any of the studied sites/restaurants; prevalence of 0.0% (95% CI, 0.0 - 0.0). The study revealed no statistical significant difference, at p-value (p≤ 0.05), observed in the Total Bacterial Count (TBC) and the Enterobacteriace Enumeration estimated between the samples; the highest contamination levels in meat (3.3×105 cfu/cm-2) in Al-Sinaat area, in vegetables (1.3×104 cfu/cm-2) in Al-Saadah South area, in utensils (1.0×105 cfu/ml) in Al-Haafah and Al-Saadah North areas, in surfaces (2.0×105 cfu/ml) in Al-Haafah area and on hands of workers (1.6×105 cfu/ml) in Al-Saadah South area. While the EE revealed the highest contamination levels in meat (0.037×103) in Al-haafah and Al-Sinaat area, 1in vegetables (1.000×103) in Salalaha Al-Wustaa area, in utensils (3.400×103) in Al-Saadah North area, in surfaces (1.500×103) in Salalaha Al-Wustaa area and on hands of workers (0.267×103) in Al-Saadah North area. The respondents were asked if they wear gloves when working, wash hands before putting on the gloves, wear an apron and a mask and put on a cap when working, wash hands before and after touching raw meat, wash hands after the rest time when coming back to work, eat and/or drink and smoke at work place. They were also asked how often do they use the products of their working plants and how often do they recommend the products of your working plants to others, they were answered 10, 20,20,2,16,20,21,21,0,0,20,21 from all respondents 21 respectively.
