R. Schmitt et al., HAZARDS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS OF FOOD PREPARATION IN HOMES IN WHICH PERSONS HAD DIARRHEA IN ZAMBIA, Journal of food protection, 60(2), 1997, pp. 161-171
Following identification of some cases of diarrhea from persons who ei
ther sought treatment at a health clinic that served two townships nea
r a large city in Zambia or got water from a deep protected well in on
e of the townships, hazard analyses were done of food preparation and
storage practices at 17 homes. Samples of foods at various stages of p
reparation, foods held overnight, and drinking water were collected fr
om the homes of the ill persons and were tested for common foodborne p
athogens and indicator organisms. Salmonella was isolated from a sampl
e of leftover kapenta (cooked dried minnows). Thermotolerant coliforms
and Escherichia coli were isolated from water from shallow wells and
a treated community supply. Although thermtolerant coliforms were not
recovered from the protected well site, they were isolated from a samp
le of water collected in a home that used this supply. Several leftove
r foods, however, contained much larger populations of thermotolerant
coliforms and larger populations of aerobic mesophilic organisms than
the water. Furthermore, leftover nshima (boiled and whipped corn meal)
and porridge contained large populations (>10(5)) of Bacillus cereus
per gram. Foods during cooking attained temperatures that would have b
een lethal to vegetative cells of foodborne pathogens. After cooking,
they were subjected to time-temperature abuse during holding until eat
en or while held overnight.