MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF LOCAL SOYMILK: A PUBLIC HEALTH APPRAISAL

Abstract

The ubiquity in the hawking of locally produced soymilk, packaged in different forms, was considered a public health 
concern. The attendant increase in the rate of soymilk consumption has encouraged low scale production of the milk under 
household condition with little or no regard to quality control measures. Accordingly, branded and unbranded soymilk samples 
were subjected to microbiological analyses to ascertain their hygienic standard of production. The soymilk samples were found 
to have pH in the range of pH 7.2 to 7.5. Screening for microbial contaminants revealed generally high bacterial and fungal 
counts of 2.9 x 107
 cells/ml. to 1.02 x 108
 cells/ml. and 3.5 x 107
 to 2.13 x 108
 cells/ml. respectively as well as high Most Probable 
Number (180+) of coliform bacilli per 100ml of each sample. Regular contamination with Escherichia coli, other faecal coliforms 
and Staphylococcus aureus was detected in all the samples. In addition, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, other Gram-negative bacilli 
and streptobacilli were detected in most of the nylon packed (unbranded) samples. The fungal isolates were mainly Aspergillus 
spp., Penicillium spp and Fusarium. The microbial population detected in terms of number and types reflected poor hygienic 
standard of production, constituting a public health hazard among the populace. There is a need to streamline soymilk 
production for proper monitoring and quality assurance