Investigation of Microbial Contamination and Working Environment in University Foodservices

Park, Soon Hee; Moon, Hye Kyung

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identity the probability of cross-contamination from the environment. For this, we examined foodservices at 20 universities/colleges for microbiological analysis of their working facilities and environment as well as their preventive equipment against cross-contamination. Seventy percent of the 20 foodservices were found to maintain one unified working area, which suggests high probability of contamination of food/utensils/equipment in the cooking area by pre-preparation or dish washing. According to the microbiological analysis, the hygiene acceptance ratio of working facilities in the clean zone was 70%, which was higher than the average 45% hygiene acceptance ratio of working facilities in the contamination operating zone. There was a significant difference in the total plate count (P<0.001) and coliform count (P <0.01), which demonstrates that work tables in the clean zone were in a good state compared to those in the contamination operating zone. In the contamination operating zone, refrigerator shelves had a high probability of cross-contamination. Regarding the floor surface and airborne microbes, cooking areas which should be maintained as clean zones had higher cross-contamination probability than those in the contamination operating zone. So corrective actions such as cleaning and sanitizing, keeping dry floors, lowered temperature and humidity, shoe disinfecting facilities, and checking concentrations, are necessary to manage floor surfaces and airborne microbes in the cooking area.