Microbial Assessment of Surfaces of Canned Drinks Sold Within Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria and Its Associated Health Implications

Keywords: Canned drinks; microorganism; health implications Introduction A drink can (or beverage can) is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc.1. Escherichia coli bacteria at times persist in food products such as unpasteurized fruit juice or undercooked meat. Microbes can enter the body through any of these four sites; * Respiratory tract (mouth and nose) e.g. influenza virus which causes the flu. * Gastrointestinal tract (mouth oral cavity) e.g. Vibrio cholerae which causes cholera. * Urogenital tract e.g. Escherichia coli which causes cystitis. * Breaks in the skin surface e.g. Clostridium tetani which causes tetanus. Other pathogenic bacteria were also isolated and identified; Coliform bacteria such as E. coli, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter were seen to have this percentage of occurrence 71.8%, 43.6% and 30.9% respectively, while pathogens like Salmonella and Shigella species have their percentage of occurrence to be 39.4% and 22.3% respectively [10].