Street Vended Donkunu (Kenkey) and its Raw Sauce in Southwest Nigeria: A Plethora of Potential Pathogens and Source of Foodborne Illnesses

Street vended foods attract the populace because of their savory taste preferred by the indigenous public, and have contributed significantly to the maintenance of the food supply chain. Consumption of street food is significantly increasing due to a busy scheduled life. Donkunu and its complementary sauce is a Ghanaian delicacy that has been consumed in Nigeria over the years, but the safety status of the vended version is yet to be elucidated. This study assessed the microbiological safety of street-vended Donkunu, a Ghanaian delicacy, between February and March 2023. The researchers collected data from 149 questionnaires and 22 samples from five major markets. Enumeration of indicator organisms was done using standard microbiological procedures and identified using high throughput Illumina sequencing method. It was observed that the vendors had good food safety knowledge but poor practice and implementation. The majority of samples had a high microbial hazard according microbiological specifications for ready-to-eat foods of the United Kingdom Health Protection Agency. Similarly, metagenomics analysis reflected that there was a relative abundance of 63.4%, 18.17%, 0.045 and 8.43% of genus Weisella, Lactobacillus, Vibro and unclassified bacterial species in the Donkunu sauce. The presence of pathogens as well as the non-conformity of indicator organisms count to food safety standards reflected the poor food safety practices of the vendors and thus, suggests that the safety of street-vended Donkunu in Osogbo, Nigeria is relatively unsafe for consumption.