Emergence of antimicrobial resistance in street vendor food: A global perspective on bacterial contamination, resistance mechanisms, and mitigation strategies | ||||
| Microbes and Infectious Diseases | ||||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 10 April 2025 PDF (1.29 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Review Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mid.2025.349321.2429 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Alisha Sinha1, 2; Poonamrani Mishra3; Ambika Sahoo2; Debasish Sahoo3; Mahesh Chandra Sahu   1
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| 1Division of Microbiology, ICMR-RMRC, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751023, Odisha, India | ||||
| 2Centre for Biotechnology, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University, Kalinganagar, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha, India | ||||
| 3Department of Microbiology, IMS and SUM Hospital, Kalinganagar, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha, India | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses a critical threat to global health, significantly contributing to morbidity and mortality. Environmental surveillance has pointed out that street-vended food is a reservoir and vector for the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, but its involvement in the dissemination of infectious diseases remains underappreciated. This review brings together national and international studies on the bacteriological quality of street food and its link with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The most commonly identified foodborne pathogens are Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which cause vomiting, diarrhea, and severe infections of the gut. As high as 60% of street foods contain ESBL and MBL-producing bacteria and are resistant to more than 70% of first-line antibiotics. Contamination relates to poor hygiene, including low handwashing abilities (73.3% of vendors), use of untreated water sources (40%), and poor hygiene in food handling (60% of vendors do not trim their nails). External environmental exposure in the form of flies, rodents, and birds increases the transmission of bacteria. Horizontal gene transfer, efflux pumps, and plasmid-mediated resistance mechanisms add complexities to the problems. The first cause is poor awareness and measures of sanitation at the level of the vendors. Weak food safety regulations, poor waste management, and low surveillance of microbes heighten the risk. This review calls for the urgent implementation of food safety policies, better sanitation infrastructure, regular microbial monitoring, and hygiene training of vendors. Moreover, affordable kits for testing microbes can be used for the early detection of MDR pathogens. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| MDR; Food borne disease; street vendor food; hygiene; Morbidity and mortality | ||||
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