Microbial Load In Packaged Frozen Food Available In The Market

Abstract

Introduction : Frozen food is consumed worldwide. It is an upcoming market in India. Many multinational companies are involved in
this market. In India market regulation of food products is practically impossible because of the unorganised sector playing a major
role here. Food safety is a great concern. This study is done to find out the quality of the food materials available in the market.
Samples were collected from the supermarkets and subjected for microbiological evaluation. The study shows that the bacterial load
in the food samples are not in acceptable range. Same even contain pathogenic bacteria like coliforms
Materials and methods: Study is done to find out how safe is the packaged frozen food available in the market. Five grams of the
food materials is measured and dissolved in sterile saline, 50 microlitre is pipetted out and inoculated in the selected culture media
to find out total bacterial load and the coliform bacteria. The plates were inoculated and incubated at 37 degree C for 24 hours.
Result: Then after the incubation period the plates were examined for the total colony forming unit and the type of the bacterial
species present. In many samples the count was innumerable and shows the coliform growth.
Discussion: The frozen food materials available in the market are found to be heavily contaminated. There is no hint of sterility in
any of the samples tested. Strict regulation should be imposed on the food industries to safeguard the health of the consumers
Conclusion : In this study ,it was observed that the packaged frozen food has bacterial contamination which is not acceptable in any
food safety standards. The local food materials, though they are packed in an attractive and colourful way, are not produced by the
leaders in the market, mostly done like a cottage industry without any expertise.