Hyderabad: Fruit juice sold on roadside pavements is tempting to drink especially on a hot day. But think before you drink it as a National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) study in Hyderabad has found that almost 97 per cent of fruit juice samples were contaminated with pathogens like ecoli and faecal coli forms, staphylococcus aureus and shigella. The study also found that 80 to 90 per cent of the surveyed vendors knew about the food safety hazards and precautions but few of them actually practised cleanliness.
NIN scientists had earlier studied the hygiene of street salads in Hyderabad. Juices on the roadside are popular as they are cheap. The study was conducted by senior scientists Dr V. Sudershan Rao, S.G.D.N. Lakshmi Reddi, R. Naveen Kumar of the Food and Drug Toxicology Division along with N. Balakrishna of the Biostatistics department of NIN. Faecal coli forms and staphylococcus aureus were the most prevalent bacteria with more than 75 per cent of the fruit juices having either one of these.
Almost 43 per cent of fruit juice samples had the dangerous ecoli. Scientists also found that grape juice was relatively less contaminated.
Health hazards:
Most varieties of ecoli cause only a brief episode of diarrhoea but some forms of the bacteria can cause severe bloody diarrhoea and vomiting.
Staphylococcus aureus can cause staph infection leading to food poisoning. Staph bacteria actually multiply in foods and release toxins at room temperature.
Faecal coli forms are generally found in human waste, hence the name. Their presence is not really harmful but indicates the presence of other pathogens.
