Vendors' handling practices of edible long-horned grasshoppers (Ruspolia differens) products and implications on microbial safety

Abstract

Edible grasshopper,Ruspolia ruspolia, has nutritional and cherished culturaland economic importance to people from diverse cultures, particularly inover 20 African countries. It is consumed at home or commercially traded assautéed, deep-fried, or boiled products. However, there is limited informationon the hygiene practices of the vendors and the implications on the microbialsafety of the final product. This research aimed at assessing thefood safetyknowledge, handling practices and shelf life of edible long-horned grasshopperproducts among vendors and the microbial safety of ready-to-eat productssold in 12 different markets in Uganda. Samples of raw, deep-fried and boiledgrasshoppers were randomly collected from 74 vendors (62% street and 38%market vendors) and subjected to microbial analysis. Over 85% ofthe vendorssurveyed had no public health food handler’s certificate and>95% had limitedpost-harvest handling knowledge. Total aerobic bacteria (7.30–10.49 Log10cfu/g), Enterobacteriaceae (5.53–8.56 Log10 cfu/g), yeasts and molds (4.96–6.01Log10 cfu/g) total counts were significantly high and above the acceptableCodex Alimentarius Commission and Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI)limits for ready-to-eat food products. Eight key pathogenicbacteria responsiblefor foodborne diseases were detected and these isolates were characterizedasBacillus cereus,Hafnia alvei,Serratia marcescens,Staphylococcus aureus,S.xylosus,S. scuiri,S. haemolyticus, andPseudomonas aeruginosa. Findings fromthis study highlight the urgent need to create local and national food safetypolicies for the edible grasshopper “nsenene” subsector to regulate and guidestreet and market vending along the value chain, to prevent thetransmission offoodborne diseases to consumers.