Bacterial contamination of babies’ skin care products in Sudanese markets

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Infants are born with a developing epidermal barrier that is more permeable and more reactive to the environment. Babies‘ skins are very susceptible to infection which may acquire through microbial contaminants in skin care products. Method: Bacteriological quality was examined for 93 babies‘ skin care products, collected randomly from local Sudanese markets. The samples include 39 lotions, 45 talc powders and 9 shampoos, isolation of bacteria passed through many stages, started by inoculation of products into nutrient broth then cultured in selective media and identification of isolates confirmed by using biochemical tests. Results: The incidence of contamination recovered variable bacteria, Bacillus spp isolated from 39 samples (41.9% ), Pseudomonas aeruginosa from 16 (17.2% ), Gram negative rods isolated from 3 samples (3.22%), and a mixture of Gram negative rods and Gram positive rods isolated from 3 samples (3.22%), Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 4 samples (4.3%), coagulase negative Staphylococci isolated from two samples (2.1%) and one sample was found to be contaminated by E.coli(1.07%). Conclusions: The results showed high incidence of bacterial contamination by potential hazardous microorganisms. Attention must be paid to microbial hazard analysis in critical control points to minimize risk of contamination to produce a product which is microbiologically acceptable.