Microbial composition of milk and related hygiene practices associated with the primary feeding school programme in Maseru

Abstract

The number of hungry school-aged children is unknown, though it seems to be increasing annually, especially after the massive hit of the global pandemic of Covid-19. The World Food Programme has taken a lead in investing in school health and has established strategic means to meet the need of most of the disadvantaged school-aged children, through School Feeding Programmes across the globe. This study conducted in Maseru, Lesotho, involved 16 primary schools and investigated the knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of food handlers at schools, while employing a common food product (milk) obtained from the same source. Methodology The sampling consisted of two batches of milk samples collected at the end of summertime and at the beginning of winter. Each milk sample was monitored from the point of collection at the dairy to the various schools. The milk samples were analysed to determine the presence of various microorganisms, including total viable counts, Listeria, yeast and mould, Enterococcus, Coliforms and Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus spp. Structured questionnaires were administered to the food handlers to evaluate their knowledge, attitude, and self-reported behaviour. Results The temperature and distance variances showed a very weak positive correlation, the more distance covered the higher the temperature change occurred. All the tested microorganisms occurred in milk samples in the range 2×100 CFU ml-1 to >9×105 CFU ml-1. Total bacterial counts were the highest with 9.95×105 CFU ml-1 while Listeria was the lowest with 2×100 CFU ml-1. On average 81% of the questionnaires were answered correctly, 13% of the respondents expressed lack of knowledge on the diseases that can be transmitted through contaminated milk, less than 50% of the study population believed that cold milk means safe milk even when not refrigerated. Conclusion Specifically, Enterococci, Lactobacilli, Staphylococcus, E. coli and Listeria species were detected in some of the samples with levels above threshold limits allowed by legislation for a particular organism. Such findings present with risks to human health as foodborne illnesses are ascribed to contamination of food, which can occur at any stage of the food production chain, as well as during production, storage, transportation and or handling to serve. Monitoring and evaluation of School Feeding Programmes can play an important role in food safety to yield the desired results