Bacteriological Quality of Infant Milk Formula in Tripoli City, Libya

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that a huge number of cases related to food-borne diseases occurs in every part of the world annually. Infant milk formula is known to be a reservoir of many organisms and contributes to neonatal infections. Hence, we decided to characterize and examine the infant formula's quality. Fifty samples of infant milk formula were collected from various locations in Tripoli city, Libya to be tested for its bacteriological quality. The maximum of total aerobic count (TAC) was 4.9 log cfu ml-1, with a mean value 4 log cfu ml-1. 52% of samples contained coliform organisms. The maximum coliform count (MPN/100 ml) was 5.7 log; , with a mean value of 4.4 log. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (O124:K72: B17 and O111:K58:B4) were isolated from 2 samples. Enterobacter aerogenes, Ent. Cloacae, Ent. Liquifaciens, Klebsiella aerogenes, K. ozaenae, K. edwardsii and K. rhino-scleromatis were isolated at varying percentages ranging from 4% to 24%. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 3 samples, while Proteus spp. was detected in 56% of examined samples. The total Enterococci count/ml of infant milk ranged from 4.3 to 4.6 log cfu ml-1 with a mean value of 3.7 log. Therefore, it is concluded that the presence of such microorganisms in infant formula should not be neglected and considered a serious risk with the possibility of the organism to multiply during the preparation and holding time before the consumption of the product. The public health importance of existing microorganisms as well as suggestive control measures was discussed.