Bacteriological Load in Traditional Food Packaging Paper

Abstract

Aims: To determine bacteriological load of rejected papers used as food packaging materials and assess their prevalence of use by food vendors. Methods and Results: Food vendors (n=116) were selected purposively from various street food, fast food, small and large dining stalls or hotels located at Jashore, Bangladesh. Paper samples randomly collected from these vendors were later categorized into 5 different types as food wrapping, plate covering, tray spreading paper and hand cleaning. Then, 7 paper samples from these each 5 types were randomly sampled for microbial analysis. Swabbing and defibering methods for bacterial analysis and SPSS for statistical analysis were employed. The number of bacteria by the defibering method was in the range of (1.9×108-7.5×108) Cfu/g. Sample papers tested by swabbing method contained between minimum 1.2×108 and maximum 9.2×108Cfu/cm2. Under swabbing method, the minimum average bacterial count was 2.8×108 Cfu/cm2 in food serving paper samples and maximum 4.7×108 Cfu/cm2 in wrapping paper samples. By defibering method, maximum average of bacterial load was found in tray spreading paper samples as 5.3×108Cfu/g and minimum average was in plate covering paper as 4.4x108Cfu/g. Types of paper samples were not significantly different when compared with each other against their mean bacterial concentration found by swabbing method (F=0.961, p=0.443) as well as defibering method (F=2.227, p=0.09).The mean quantity of paper use per vendor surveyed was as much as 1.26 kg a day. Anticipatedly, quantity extent of paper use (kg/day) based on the types of food shops showed a significant difference (F=3.9, p=0.01), as understandably, paper use among different shops was apparently highly variable. Conclusions: The paper samples used for food wrapping and packaging showed high bacterial contamination more than standard acceptance level. There is an urgent need to discourage the use of these papers as food packaging material by creating awareness among food vendors and consumers regarding its harmful effects.