Microbiological Quality Analysis of Some Frozen Food Items Collected from Various Locations of Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Frozen foods of different categories make a huge contribution to meet the sufficient demands for nutrition in our daily lives. For this reason, this study was conducted to emphasize the existence of indicator and pathogenic bacteria through the isolation, identification, and characterization of such microorganisms obtained from frozen food samples collected from different local markets of Dhaka City, Bangladesh. A total of 12 frozen food samples were analyzed for the detection of total viable bacterial counts (TVBC), total fungal count (TFC), total staphylococcal count (TSC), and total coliform count (TCC). Biochemical testing was conducted for the presumptive identification of the bacterial isolates. All food samples harbored TVBC ranging from 105 to 107 CFU/g, and TFC were within the range of 102 to 103 CFU/g. Among the others, high loads of Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella were consistently observed. Additionally, most of the isolates exhibited resistance to commonly used antibiotics, raising concerns about antimicrobial resistance in these foodborne pathogens. Such findings will provide valuable insights into the microbial risks associated with ready-to-cook frozen food consumption, highlighting the need for enhanced safety practices and stricter regulatory policies in their processing and handling.

Stam. J. Microbiol. 2025;15(1):53-57