Purpose: There is a high demand for these flavoured drinks especially among the school children and in the roadside shops, recreational areas (parks), and in the busy market places. The microbiological quality of the supplied juices remains questionable.
Methods: A control sample was prepared in the laboratory and nine samples of three different flavours (orange, pineapple and blackcurrant) were collected. Total Vibrio count, total faecal coliform and total Staphylococcus count were estimated in all the samples.
Results: Total Vibrio cholera was completely absent while five samples were found to harbour total staphylococcal counts of bacteria within the range of 0.7-1.5x104cfu/ml. All the samples exhibited the presence of coliform counts within the range of 1.0-9.5x104cfu/ml and Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus acidophilus and Klebsiella aerogenes species were bacteria isolated from the samples collected. Heavy metals were also estimated in all the collected samples. Chromium and lead were absent but cadmium was present and is within 0.01-0.025mg/g. The lowest was from orange flavour with 0.01 mg/g while the highest was in pineapple flavour with 0.025mg/g. Total titratable acidity ranges from 0.175 – 0.219 and the pH ranges from 4.21±0.14 and 5.40±0.00. Hence, this implies that Lego flavoured drink is bacteriologically and chemically unsafe for consumption.
Significance: Food borne diseases may be associated with the consumption of these flavoured drinks due to poor processing and handling. This underscores the need for safety assessment of this emerging beverage mostly consumed by school children.