Analysis of the microbiological quality of bread marketed in Kinshasa

The management of food products sold and consumed is a critical issue in DR Congo. Daily processing operations are not subject to the publication of procedure papers or reports. Quality control is not systematically applied. The general environmental conditions in which products are sold do not meet microbiological standards from a food safety perspective. They are exposed to all kinds of weather from morning to evening (sun, rain, dusty wind, smoke from vehicles...), are sold near other foodstuffs: vegetables, fruits, breads... Four main reasons are of interest for the microbiological analysis: economic reason, public health reason, reason of respect of the legislation and reason of follow-up or selection of good microbes in the industry. Our study was interested in the microbiological quality of the bread for public health reasons in order to know its contamination from the exit of the oven to the consumers. And our results reveal that the contamination is more pronounced at the level of retailers and that this food became omnipresent in the food habits of the Kinois.