Comparative microbiological and antibiotic resistance analysis of street-vended fruit juice and ice

Abstract

Street-vended fruit juices are widely consumed in urban Bangladesh, yet their microbiological safety remains a concern. The study evaluated the quality and antimicrobial resistance of bacterial pathogens in 20 samples of street-vended fruit juices and ice in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sixty-six isolates, including Escherichia coli (n=11), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=20) and Vibrio spp. (n=35), were confirmed. Out of the 20 samples, 50% of the samples had total aerobic counts exceeding the recommended safety limits. Klebsiella spp. and Escherichia coli exceedance of microbiological limits was reported in 55% of samples each, whilst Vibrio spp. contamination was over regulatory levels in each sample (100%), indicating a significant issue to the community. Kirby-Bauer Disk Diffusion, which is a phenotypic susceptibility testing, showed a wide level of resistance to a large proportion of Amoxicillin (60% in ice; 41.3% in juice). It is interesting to note that isolates derived by juices were more resistant to the carbapenem Imipenem (32.6%) than those derived by ice (10%). On the other hand, Levofloxacin and Norfloxacin had 100 percent efficacy in all the samples. Such results point to the high public health hazard urging tightening of the hygiene policies and the education of the vendors to reduce the foodborne AMR pathogens.