Abstract:
Hand hygiene prevents contamination in food processing; however, workers' adherence is poor.
Made tea used in tea bagging were investigated with respect to microbial contamination to evaluate
efficacy of hand hygiene practices. Investigation was based on workers with hand washing using
selected sanitiser against wearing gloves. Samples were analysed according to Latin Square Design
with replicates (n=3) and Standard microorganisms’ detection methods. Study showed that no
significant differences (P>0.05) were in the aerobic plate count (APC), yeast and mould between
hand hygiene treatments, indicating log 11.08+0.17 cfu g–1 and log 10.74+0.18 cfu g–1, respectively.
Most frequent isolates were Aspergillus niger and, Aspergillus flavus in made tea samples. Findings
of the study revealed that not only the substantial aspects of proper hand hygiene practices in workers
associated with tea bagging but also using quality raw materials act as the one of fundamental
importance to avoid the microbial contamination in made tea.
