Evaluation of hygienic conditions of food contact surfaces in a hospital kitchen in Morocco.

Background And Objectives: Food in healthcare settings are complementary to medical treatment, hence it should be produced in good sanitary conditions. In fact, hospitalized and immune-compromised patients are more likely to have foodborne infections than the rest of the community. The aim of our study is to evaluate the microbiological quality of food contact surfaces in a hospital kitchen in Morocco.

Materials And Methods: A total of 238 samples was collected from kitchen surfaces and analyzed for total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AMC), Enterobacteriaceae and count and the presence of spp., spp. and

Results: The bacteriological analysis shows that the highest rates of compliance with good hygienic conditions were obtained in baking worktops (77%) and serving meal worktops (50%) and the vegetables cutting boards (45.83%). In contrary, some surfaces show a low level of compliance, such as the raw meat cutting boards (96%). The isolated bacteria were , coagulase-negative staphylococci, , , , and .

Conclusion: The actual results indicate that the high levels of bacterial counts on kitchen surfaces, presents an evident need to improve the hygienic process and adopt an HACCP system in this facility.