Microbiological Analysis of Milk Shakes in Peshawar City, Pakistan

The purpose of this study was to analyze microbial life and to address safety issues of milk shakes locally available in road side shops and carts of Peshawar city, Pakistan. Total of 144 samples of different flavours were examined for the presence of microbial content as total bacterial load, total coliform count, fecal coliform count and total staphylococcal count. Majority of samples have higher bacterial load (102-109cfu/ml) and total coliform count (103-106cfu/ml). Escherichia Coli, Citrobacter, Klebsiella and Salmonella species were detected using different biochemical tests. 26 samples revealed the presence of fecal coliform contamination (104 cfu/ml) while 120 samples harbored staphylococci (106 cfu/ml).High percentage of drug resistance among biochemical isolates was found against commonly used antibiotics like Imipenem, Nalidixic acid, Piperaciline, Ceftriaxone, Vancomycine, Ampicillin, Amoxicilline, Ciprofloxacine, and Erythromycine. Furthermore, 66% Escherichia Coli, 60% Klebsiella, 51% Citrobacter and 25% salmonella were found to be ESBL positive. In general the analysis indicates unsatisfactory quality of milk shakes and need to be microbiologically controlled by regulatory authorities to ensure public health safety.

Author(s): Sajjad Ahmad and Abdu Haq

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