Bacteriological Quality and Public Health Risk of Ready-to-Eat Foods in Developing Countries: Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

Ready-to-eat foods are foods that are consumed at the point of sale or later, without any further processing or treatment. Foodborne diseases are on the rise worldwide, involving a wide range of diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, and are becoming a public health problem. Therefore, this study sought to identify and determine the bacteriological quality and public health risks in ready-to-eat foods in developing countries.

The studies published from 2012 to 2020 were identified through systematic searches of various electronic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed and MEDLINE, MedNar, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, and Science Direct. The articles were searched using a Boolean logic operator ("AND," "OR," "NOT") combination with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and keywords. All identified keywords and an index term were checked in all included databases. In addition, a quality assessment is performed to determine the relevance of the article, and then the data are extracted and analyzed.

The current study found that the pooled prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter species, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas species, and Shigella in ready-to-eat foods was 30.24% (95% CI: 18.8, 44.65), 11.3% (95% CI: 6.6, 18.7), 9.1% (95% CI: 7.0, 11.8), 23.8% (95% CI: 17.5, 31.5), 17.4% (95% CI: 11.6, 25.31)], 26.8% (95% CI: 13.7, 45.9), 6.1% (95% CI: 2.8, 12.6), 34.4% (95% CI: 18.1-55.4), respectively.

Most of the reviewed articles reported on various pathogenic bacterial species that are potentially harmful to human health, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli in ready-to-eat food above the maximum allowable limit. Therefore, relevant national and international organizations must take corrective measures to prevent foodborne diseases and protect human health.