Description of Staphylococcus aureus Profile of Some Selected Processed Foods

Processed foods are supposed to be free of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms but this is not
always true. This study is, therefore, designed to determine the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in
some locally processed foods. One hundred and sixty samples of sixteen different types of processed
foods and beverages were purchased from different locations in Calabar, Cross River State and
microbiologically analyzed for possible contamination with Staphylococcus aureus using Compact Dry
X-SA plate. The presence of S. aureus was in 38 (23.8%) of the samples and the total Staphylococcal
counts ranged between 1.2 x 102 cfu/g(ml) and 4.8 x 104 cfu/g(ml), with the highest count recorded in
burger and the least load in Rosenberg. The food samples with the positive S. aureus were
Rosenberg with 30% incidence rate, meat pie with 90%, burger 100%, donut 100% and moi moi 60%
incidence rates. The presence of Staphylococcus aureus in some of these foods analyzed is an
indication of poor hygienic practices and important health threat to consumers. A total of 45 distinct
colonies were isolated and screened for coagulase positive characteristics. Out of the 45 isolates,
15(33%) were coagulase positive. The implication of this is that the consumption of these food
products can lead to staphylococcal food borne disease. It is, therefore, very important for proper
hygienic processing and handling practices to be employed for these foods and similar ones.