Microbiological quality of selected street food items vended by school-based street food vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the microbiological quality of local food items vended by the school-based street food vendors in Dhaka City. A total of 80 schools from 19 school-zones of Dhaka City and its outskirts were chosen for the study. A total of 110 food samples, one each from 110 school-based street food vendors, were collected for laboratory analysis. Face to face interviews were conducted with the food vendors using a pre-tested questionnaire. The food samples were analyzed for coliform counts in the Public Health Laboratory, Institute of Public Health, Dhaka, which is a national level central food testing laboratory in Bangladesh. Microbiological criteria recommended by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) were considered to classify food samples as ‘satisfactory’ (total coliforms