Packaging and Microbial Status of Local & Branded Bakery Products: A Comparative Study on Jessore Region, Bangladesh

Background: Most of the people in Bangladesh due to their hectic lifestyles are now increasingly dependent on various bakery products as a source of ready-to-eat foods. Generally, majority of these widely consumed bakery products mainly bread and cakes are supplied by local bakeries. Any chance of unwanted microbial contamination of these popular food products due to any poor manufacturing, handling and packaging practices can lead to major food safety and public health problems. Objectives: This study was aimed to determine and compare the microbiological quality of the locally produced bakery products of Jessore based bakeries with those of branded bakery products produced by renowned food bakeries as well as assessing their relative packaging conditions in respective shops. Method: 120 bakery shops were randomly selected in Jessore region for a questionnaire based data collection. Three types of bakery shops; tea stalls, confectionaries, and variety stores were inspected against their vending extent of branded and local bakery products with associated packaging and visual appearance. Later, 20 samples of cakes (n=10) and breads (n=10) were tested to determine the total fungal count (TFC), total bacterial count (TBC), total Staphylococcus aureus (TSA), total Enterobacteriaceae (TE), and total coliforms count (TC) in cfu/g. For required statistical data analysis Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)-16 software was used. Results: Most of the open (44.6%) and spoiled (49.4%) bakery products were found in the Tea stalls. Locally produced bakery products had greater percentage of spoiled bread and cakes compared to their branded counterparts. Breads were more visually spoiled than cakes irrespective of their brands. The number of visually spoiled breads and cakes positively and significantly increased with the number of opened or partially sealed breads and cakes (r=0.64, p<0.01). Microbial counts (cfu/g) in local products were always higher than that of their branded counterparts. Bacterial counts (cfu/g) in branded products were always lower than local counterparts (Bread, 12.8 ×107 ± 3.63×107 vs 37.8×107 ± 19.1×107, p=0.024 and Cake, 10.2×107 ± 3.20×107 vs 30.8×107 ± 21.7×107, p=0.003). Coliform count in unpacked sample (4.7×104 cfu/g) was observed much higher than the safety limit for human consumption. Bread and cake produced by local bakeries showed lower standard in packaging and microbial quality. A better manufacturing and packaging initiatives can be introduced to avoid its related food safety concerns in future