Qualitative Risk Assessment of Campylobacter jejuni in Street Vended Poultry in Informal Settlements of Nairobi County

Aim: To determine the food safety risks of consumption of street-vended poultry products, to evaluate the determinants of microbial safety and the risk rank of these products. Study Design: A cross-sectional survey was done in the Korogocho and Kariobangi North slums among the consumers and vendors to assess their food safety knowledge and practices. Swab samples of the cooking equipment, utensils, and personnel, raw and cooked portions of poultry were collected for microbial quality evaluation. The most prevalent microorganism was assessed for its qualitative risk rank using the Risk Ranger software. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi, from June 2018 to July 2018. Methodology: A total of 15 vendors were exhaustively sampled and included in the study with the food safety and hygiene practices evaluated using a food safety checklist. The snowballing sampling technique was used to locate all the vendors. Samples of raw and cooked street vended poultry products were subjected to microbial analysis. All samples were collected in sterile polythene bags followed by transportation to the laboratory of the Department of Food Science and Technology of the University of Nairobi and microbial analysis. Results: Campylobacter jejuni contamination, in both raw and cooked poultry products, was 8.95±0.94 log10 CFU g-1 and 4.66±2.67 log10 CFU g-1 respectively; the probability of contamination of raw street-vended poultry was found to be 48.96%. The mean weekly intake of the poultry was reported 140.0 g per person. The probability of campylobacter infection in an individual consumer was found as 7.12x10-3 with the predicted illnesses among the population found as 1.11x106 cases. The qualitative risk estimate from the study was reported as 67, above the limit of 48 for medium risk. Conclusion: The study concluded that Campylobacter jejuni posed high food safety risks as a resultant from the consumption of street-vended poultry.