Browsing by Author "Gunasena, G.D.D.K."

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    Microbiological quality of cow’s milk produced by small-scale farmers in Lankapura, Polonnaruwa district, 2018
    (19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Siriwardhana, B.A.M.P.; Gunasena, G.D.D.K.
    At present, in Polonnaruwa, there is a tremendous development in dairy sector. Milk is a rich biological fluid which contains all necessary nutrients. But, milk quality issues were raised by the consumers and producers who collected milk from Lankapura. Although, measures have been taken to increase the milk production, the microbiological quality of milk has not been thoroughly evaluated in area. So, this study was carried out to compare and evaluate the microbiological quality of raw cow’s milk collected from small scale farmers and bulk milk tanks in the study area. A total number of fifty milk samples were collected from eleven small scale dairy farmers (25 samples) and 11 bulk milk tanks (25 samples) of milk collecting centers in Lankapura. The study was carried out from March to May, 2018. All laboratory tests were done at Veterinary Investigation Center, Polonnaruwa. The microbiological quality evaluation was done based on Standard plate count (SPC) test, titratable acidity test, alcohol test and Resazurin test. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 software. According to O’Connor et al 1994, milk produced under hygienic conditions from healthy cow should not contain more than 5 x 105 bacteria per ml. (5.699 log10 CFU/ml). According to the study, average level of bacterial count of household milk production was 6.193 ± 0.311 log10 CFU/ml. Average level of bacterial count of bulk milk production was 6.6427 ±0.322 log10 CFU/ml. According to the results, bacterial counts were not in acceptable level for both household and bulk milk samples. All milk samples collected from bulk milk tanks were likely to clot by alcohol test and 56% samples collected from households were clot. In Resazurin test, none of the bulk milk product performed in blue colour while few household milk productions (12%) performed in blue colour for resazurin test. According to the study, average level of acidity of household milk production was 0.229 ±0.029% and the average level of acidity of bulk milk production was 0.294± 0.020%. According to O’Connor et al, 1995, normal fresh milk has an apparent acidity of 0.14% to 0.16% as lactic acid. Acidity levels of milk samples were higher than accepted level. As well as, there was a high statistical significance between the households and bulk milk samples. All the tests indicated that the microbiological quality of the study area was poor due to unhygienic practices. Acidity and microbial load of bulk milk samples were significantly higher than the households. It was understood that there were inadequate sanitary practices occurring among the groups. Hence, adequate sanitary measures should be taken at all stages from production to consumption such as proper handling of the cow, good personnel hygiene and improving milk handling environment. So, educating farmers on clean milk production and microbiological quality based payment systems are recommended.
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    A preliminary microbiological study of chicken-based short-eat food in Kadawatha, Sri Lanka
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wimalasekara, S.G.M.R.L.; Gunasena, G.D.D.K.
    Foodborne disease outbreaks caused by microbiological hazards are a growing public health concern in all around the world. It results in a significant number of deaths and hospitalizations in each year. According to the ‘Weekly Epidemiological Report: A publication of the Epidemiology Unit’ of Ministry of Health (2013: Vol. 40, No. 49), fast short-eat food are identified as a prominent source of foodborne illnesses as they do not undergo any effective treatment to ensure food safety prior to consumption. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the microbiological quality and safety of fast food sold in highly urbanized Kadawatha city, Sri Lanka. A total of six chicken based short-eat food products obtained from recognized restaurants at Kadawatha city were analyzed for Total viable count (TVC), Total coliform count (TCC), Escherichia coli count (ECC), Staphylococcus aureus count (SAC) and for the presence of Salmonella according to Sri Lanka Standards (SLS:516). The noncompliance of the food samples were determined according to the local microbiological guidelines for fast food by Sri Lankan Standards Institution (SLS:1218). Food, including burger, club sandwich, bread roll sandwich and rotty exceeded the proposed guideline (5 log CFU/g) for TVC and club sandwich found to bear the highest TVC of 7.51 log CFU/g, whereas hotdog with mustard cream had the lowest of 3.05 log CFU/g. All food, except from hotdog with mustard cream were detected TCC exceeding 10 MPN/g indicating cross contaminations by poorly sanitized food contact surfaces, poor quality ingredients and improper waste discard policies. E. coli were present only in burger (4 MPN/g), bread roll sandwich (4 MPN/g) and club sandwich (9 MPN/g) signifying the degree of ignorance from the food handlers for maintaining personal hygiene during food preparation. Further, the statistical analysis of the samples denotes a significant (P < 0.05) correlation between TVC, TCC and ECC. S. aureus was detected in four food samples where the highest SAC of 4.48 log CFU/g found to be in rotty. This may be attributed to extensive handling and temperature abuse during storage. However, Salmonella was not detected in any of the analyzed food. The present study demonstrates that the fast short-eat food implies a potential public health hazard and more importantly, the susceptible population is at a higher risk. Given the higher demand for these foods, it stresses the immediate attention of local authority in the area to emphasize on educating food vendors on the importance of adhering to strict food safety regulations and Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) to ensure that the standard of the food is best achieved from farm to folk.