Introduction

Ready-to-Eat (RTE) food is a term given to food that can be consumed by consumers directly at the point of sale without further treatment [1,2]. These foods is consumed in the same state and do not require heating, peeling and washing unlike fruits and vegetables which have nuts and shells. Examples of ready-to-eat foods include fried chicken, sausages, meat pies and other take away foods. Processing of these value-added products require strict hygiene applications throughout the processing chain. This is because chicken meat / chicken based products are susceptible to microbial spoilage and could harbor pathogens even under the best management conditions and practices [3,4]. However, due to the busy schedule of individuals as a result of modern life style, industrialization and lack of time to prepare proper meals, large populations of individuals depend on ready-to-eat food which has resulted in less family or home centered activities [5]. The number of restaurants and sales outlets of ready-to-eat food in the country have greatly increased as institutions which offer degree programs in catering, home management and other related courses have paved way for qualified individuals to be employed thus reducing the rate of unemployment [6]. The sale of fried chicken parts is a common site at strategic busy areas in Benin City. Fried chicken parts are usually sold in the open markets along major streets in Benin City and in some fast food centres. Such areas include Ring road (Oredo), UseluLagosroad (Egor) and Cara market (Ikpoba Okha). The ways they are displayed for sale to the general public coupled with the handling practices call to question the hygiene status of the products. The products are displayed on open trays which are easily contaminated by dust, exhaust smoke, sand, insects, hands of intending buyers etc. According to Yah et al. [6], food-borne diseases are diseases resulting from the ingestion of bacteria, toxins and cells produced by microorganisms present in food. Organisms that cause food-borne diseases include E.coli, Bacillus species, Clostridium botulinum, molds, fungi and yeast. The health implications in consuming fried chicken sold along the streets and in some fast foods stores have been of great concern for a long time [7]. Food-borne illnesses of microbial origin are a major health problem associated with fried chicken parts sold in public places. The most commonly reported practice that contributed to food-borne disease was bare-handed contact by handler/worker/preparer [8]. Most consumers who depend on such food are more interested in its convenience and usually pay little attention to its safety, quality and hygiene [9,10]. Under these circumstances, microbiological evaluation can often be very helpful to ascertain the safety and avoid public health hazards among consumers of fried chicken parts. Determine the proximate chemical analysis of the eateries and street vended fried chicken. The major concern with street foods is their microbiological safety, mainly because vending is done in places that may have poor sanitation. In general the numbers and types of microorganism present in a finished food products are influenced by the general environment from which the food was originally obtained, the bacteriological.

Quality of the food in its raw or unprocessed state, the sanitary conditions under which the product is handled and processed and the adequacy of subsequent packaging, handling, storage conditions of the products [11]. The broad objective of this work are to Isolate, estimate, identify and characterize microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) from readyto-eat fried chicken, obtained from different fast food centers and street vended spots in Benin City, Nigeria. It also compares the microbial load of ready-to-eat fried chicken collected from these fast food centers and street vended spots 

Materials and Methods

Study area

The study areas are the eateries and vendors at the roadside using three different locations (Local Government Areas) in Benin City, Edo State. They are: Uselu Lagos road (Egor LGA), Lagos street (Oredo LGA) and Cara market (Ikpoba Okha LGA). These areas were selected because fried chicken parts are mainly sold there and there is high patronage of street vended foods.

Sample collection

A fried chicken part (Drumstick) was bought from each vending site, making a total of two replicate samples collected from each Local Government Areas at two weeks interval. From each of the sites, ready-to-eat fried chicken samples were purchased from an eatery and a vendor at the road side and transported to the laboratory as being sold andwrapped with transparent nylon by the handlers and kept in a deep cold storage at 4°C and analyzed within 12 hours of collection. The complete process of microbiological analysiswas performed under a sterile condition to avoid contamination from environment. The samples were subjected to microbiological analysis according to standard procedures.

Control sample (Laboratory prepared)

Chicken was purchased from the farm house of the University of Benin. Utensil used for killing and dressing the chicken were properly washed. The chicken was killed, properly scalded, cut into desirable sizes and properly seasoned, boiled in 500 ml of water and afterwards deep fried in hot vegetable oil. After frying, fried parts were kept in the refrigerator properly packaged. The drumstick of the chicken was used as the control.