Microbiological contamination of food at self-service restaurants

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the microbiological conditions of food served in self-service restaurants in Itumbiara-GO. In total, we studied 23 restaurants and the foods collected were: pasta, tomato and cucumber salad, mayonnaise and meat from the pan. The samples were acquired with the support of the municipality's sanitary inspectors. Our research was focused on total mesophiles, coagulase positive taphylococci and heat tolerant coliforms. The sample preparations and their dilutions were performed according to the technique recommended by the Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods. Non-contamination of food was confi rmed in only one restaurant. In 16 restaurants (69.6%), there were at least three types of food contaminated with scores above the standard allowed by law. All the pathogens studies were detected in at least one type of food. The most common pathogen was coagulase positive Staphylococcus (86.5%). These results are alarming. The presence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in the food demonstrates the poor sanitary conditions under which it was prepared.