Torgby-Tetteh Wellington, Krishnamoorthy Srinivasan, Buys Elna M
Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management-Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), Thanjavur 613005, India.
Foods. 2023 Sep 27;12(19):3596. doi: 10.3390/foods12193596.
Diarrhoea is a considerable agent of disease and loss of life in children below age five in South Africa. Soweto, South Africa is an urban township in Johannesburg, with most of its population living in informal settlements. Informal settlements in areas such as Soweto are often impoverished communities that do not get water easily, inadequate sanitation is pervasive, and poor hygiene common (risk factors for diarrhoeal diseases). Among the age groups, infants are most vulnerable to diarrhoeal infection, mainly through the ingestion of food and water. The presence of undesirable microbiota is a food safety and health challenge. This study investigated the microbiome of infant food samples collected from formal ( = 19) and informal ( = 11) households in Soweto. A non-culture-dependent technique was used to characterise the bacterial diversity and composition of the infant food samples. The results indicated that household type did not influence microbial diversity and composition in Soweto. South Africa. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Tenericutes dominated the phyla rank in food samples from formal and informal households. Potential pathogens of public health significance, including diarrhoeal disease agents such as spp., , and spp., were detected within the foods. We concluded that the infant food samples showed rich bacterial diversity, and the presence of potential pathogens of public health significance suggests a disease risk that infants may face upon consuming the foods.
腹泻是南非五岁以下儿童疾病和死亡的一个重要因素。南非索韦托是约翰内斯堡的一个城市镇区，其大部分人口居住在非正式定居点。索韦托等地区的非正式定居点往往是贫困社区，不易获得水源，普遍存在卫生设施不足和卫生习惯差的情况（这些都是腹泻疾病的风险因素）。在各年龄组中，婴儿最容易受到腹泻感染，主要是通过摄入食物和水。有害微生物群的存在是食品安全和健康面临的一项挑战。本研究调查了从索韦托的正规家庭（n = 19）和非正规家庭（n = 11）收集的婴儿食品样本的微生物组。采用一种非培养技术来表征婴儿食品样本中的细菌多样性和组成。结果表明，家庭类型对南非索韦托的微生物多样性和组成没有影响。厚壁菌门、变形菌门、蓝细菌门和柔膜菌门在正规和非正规家庭的食品样本门水平上占主导地位。在食品中检测到了具有公共卫生意义的潜在病原体，包括腹泻病原体如某些菌属、某些菌属和某些菌属。我们得出结论，婴儿食品样本显示出丰富的细菌多样性，具有公共卫生意义的潜在病原体的存在表明婴儿食用这些食品可能面临疾病风险。
