ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY OF BREAD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN A RURAL AREA

1. ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY OF BREAD FOR HUMAN
CONSUMPTION IN IFE CENTRAL LGA
OLAGUNJU A.F. MIC/1997/056
ADELUSI A. S. CLI/1999/008
BISI-OMOTOSHO A.A. CLI/2001/119
GBADAMOSI O.P. CLI/2001/156
IBITOYE A.L. CLI/2001/164
IMORU O.A. CLI/2001/177
OKELEYE A.O. CLI/2001/232
RUNSEWE O. CLI/2001/320

2. INTRODUCTION
Bread is an important source of food in
Nigeria.
It is consumed extensively in homes, restaurant
and hotels.
It is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough
of flour and water and frequently additional
ingredients which will help to enhance the
quality of the bread

3. Statement of the problem
• Modern bread is sometimes wrapped in paper or
plastic films or stored in a container such as a
breadbox to reduce drying.
• This process could serve as means of
contamination of the bread.
• This becomes even more important as bread is
eaten without further processing
• This is not surprising when one considers that
bacteria and fungi are ubiquitous and are
especially plentiful in soil and around us(air) and
could easily contaminate it.

4. Statement of the problem
• Improper handling of the food is responsible
for most cases of food –borne diseases and
intoxication,including improper stroage
temperatures,cross preparation and poor
personal hygiene.
• When food handlers do not practice personal
hygiene or correct food preparation,they may
become vehicles for microorganisms,through
their hands, mouth, skins etc

5. JUSTIFICATION
Although thorough literature review revealed no
documented evidence of unhygienic practices in
this environment ,anecdotal evidence shows that
there are unhygienic practices associated with
bread baking and bread selling which make it a
suitable niche for the growth of pathogens and a
good source of infectious diseases.
The recent surge of food borne diseases such as
cholera in this environment is a testament to the
breakdown in food hygiene in this environment.

6. INTRODUCTION
JUSTIFICATION
The role bread consumption plays in relation
to this, needs to be ascertained and
documented.
This study therefore attempts to document the
hygiene practices of bread handlers and track
the source of infection between point of
production and point of sales.

7. INTRODUCTION
AIM
To assess the safety of bread for Human
consumption in ife central LGA.
OBJECTIVES
• To assess the level of hygiene of bakers and bread
sellers in Ile-Ife
• To determine the level of hygiene in bakeries
• To track the contamination of bread from
production to point of sales
• To document the pathogens isolated from bread

8. METHODOLOGY
STUDY LOCATION
The study was carried out in Ife Central local
Government Area Ile-ife, an urban centre with a
combination of both white collar and non-white collar
jobs which has a population of 167,254 and total
number of 30 bakeries.
TARGET POPULATION
Bakeries and bread sellers in Ife Central Local
Government Area
STUDY DESIGN
This is a descriptive cross sectional study.

9. METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION
This was not done as this is a purely descriptive
study and so convenient sample was used

10. METHODOLOGY
SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
A convenience sampling technique was utilised
A total of six (6) bakeries were selected through
simple random sampling from a list of all
bakeries in Ile-Ife.
A total of 10 bread sellers were selected
purposively with respect to their spread in the
town (Mayfair, campus gate, sabo, general
phase 1, and road 7 ...)

11. METHODOLOGY
INSTRUMENTS FOR DATA COLLECTION
• Check list
• Questionnaire
• Swab sticks,
• Camera

12. Data collection
• AT THE BAKERY-
We administered questionnaires on the assessment of the
hygienic practices of the bakers and checklists to assess the
state of the bakeries.
Swab was taken from freshly baked breads, cutting tables,
baking pans and mixing table.
Loaves of bread were collected as samples from the
bakeries for laboratory analysis.
• BREAD SELLERS STAND
Checklists to assess the level of hygiene were used. Loaves
of bread were bought for laboratory analysis. Photographs
were taken to capture the unhygienic practices of the bread
sellers.

13. METHODOLOGY
• LABORATORY ANALYSIS.
Standard isolation techniques was employed
in isolation of organisms.
• IDENTIFICATION OF ORGANISMS
Pure isolated colonies were Gram
differentiated and then biochemically
identified using Indole, Catalase, Citrate,
Oxidase, Coagulase and Urease tests.

14. METHODOLOGY
DATA ANALYSIS
Data were presented using narratives and tables as
necessary
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION AND CONSENT
The assistance of the Environmental health officials of
the Local Government was sought and they facilitated
the visit to the bakeries. Consent of the bakery owners
were solicited and obtained verbally as well as the
bread sellers
LIMITATIONS
Convenience sampling was employed

15. RESULTS
TABLE 1: ORGANISMS ISOLATED FROM WORK SURFACES IN THE BAKERIES

16. RESULTS
TABLE 2: BREAD SAMPLES FROM BREAD SELLERS IN IFE CENTRAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

17. RESULTS
TABLE 3: BREAD SAMPLES FROM BAKERIES IN IFE CENTRAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

18. Hygiene practice Always
N (%)
Sometimes
N (%)
Never
N (%)
Use of head gear 12 (30) 4 (10) 24 (60)
Use of face mask 4 (10) 0 (0) 39 (90)
Use of apron 26 (65) 8 (20) 6(15)
Washing of hands 38 (95) 0 (0) 2 (5)
Use of hand gloves 18 (45) 4 (10) 18 (45)
Cutting of finger nails 38 (95) 2 (5) 0 (0)
Table 5 : Hygiene practice among bakery workers in Ile-Ife

19. Hygiene practice Yes
N (%)
No
N (%)
Use of head gear 10 (100) 0 (0)
Use of foam to clean bread 10 (100) 0 (0)
Use of apron 2 (20) 8 (80)
Washing of hands 4 (40) 6 (60)
Adequate covering of bread 10 (100) 0 (0)
Cutting of finger nails 10 (100) 0 (0)
Table 6 : Hygiene practice among bread sellers in Ile-Ife

20. Bread distributor
handling bread
with bare hands
as it is off loaded
from the van

21. PHOTOGRAPHS OF UNHYGIENIC PRACTISES
Money also
handled by
sellers
without
washing
hands in
between
sales and
handling of
bread
Foam being used to clean bread

22. Bread is
left
exposed
Arrow pointing to the foam
being used to clean the
bread and the bare hands
being used

23. PHOTOGRAPHS OF UNHYGIENIC PRACTISES

24. DISCUSSION
From our results, we discovered some unhygienic practices amongst the bakery
workers :
 60% of our respondents never wore head gears,this is in keeping with work done
by Chukuezi C.O on food safety and hygiene practices of food vendors in Owerri,
Nigeria in which 52% wore no hair coverings while 45% of our respondents never
wore hand gloves similar to figures of 47% in the Owerri study
 In this study, 90% never used facemasks
Also, we discovered that among the bread sellers:
 60% do not wash their hands before handling the bread while 100% of them used
foam and water to clean the bread. These practices are contrary to ideal hygiene
practices as stated by Helen Ehavald Fazer bakeries,Estonia(Northeastern Europe)
on food safety risks management in bakeries.
 80% of them do not have aprons to use while packaging the bread, this is double
the figure reported by Chukuezi in Owerri (43%).

25. DISCUSSION
Majority of the bakeries visited had poor environment hygiene as depicted
below:
• four out of six had unsanitary drainages around them,
• four out of six did not have proper refuse disposal systems,
• half of them had inadequate storage spaces for their raw materials and
their products
• half of them had inadequate supply of portable water,
• four out of six did not have their doors and windows of their storage
room screened against pests.
• Five out of six did not have hand washing facilities
• half of the bakeries visited cleaning their equipment ocassionally.
These findings are at variance with worldwide acclaimed best practices and
hygiene standards in bakeries published by Helen.E.F,bakeries, Estonia.

26. DISCUSSION
• Our study revealed that the main source of contamination of bread was
from the bread sellers, bread samples from 4 out of 6 bakeries visited
yielded aerobic spores( non pathogenic) while the same samples from
the bread sellers yielded Staph.aureus(pathogenic organism). This
clearly highlights that there is a possibility of contamination along the
supply chain
• However ,bread samples from two bakeries yielded the same
organisms with those from the bread sellers(Staph.aureus) which shows
that some bakeries also serve as sources of contamination. Majority of
samples from the bread sellers yielded Staphylococcus species
especially staphylococcus aureus on microbiological analysis and
Staphylococcus aureus is a significant cause of food poisoning.

27. CONCLUSION
The study concluded that bread which is largely consumed
without further processing in this environment is prone to
contamination.
This contamination often occurs during transportation and
at the point of sales.
The level of hygiene of the bakery workers and bread sellers
play a significant role in this process.
A variety of diseases which are of public health importance
could result from the consumption of contaminated bread.

28. RECOMMENDATIONS
• Health education on food hygiene for bakery
owners, bakery workers and bread sellers
• Regular and satisfactory inspection of
bakeries and bread sellers by health
inspectors.
• Registration of bread sellers should be
mandated to enhance proper monitoring by
appropriate agency.

29. THANK
YOU