Microbiological Safety Management of School Feeding Programme Food in Ogun State Primary Schools

The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSF) provides daily meals to millions of Nigerian primary school pupils, yet microbiological safety management of programme food in Ogun State, South West Nigeria, lacks systematic evaluation. This study assesses the microbiological safety management of HGSF meals in 20 selected primary schools across four local government areas in Ogun State, including Abeokuta North, Sagamu, Ifo, and Ikenne. Structured kitchen observation checklists covering cook hygiene practices, food storage, serving temperatures, and cleaning protocols were used alongside bacteriological sampling of freshly prepared meals and serving utensils. Total aerobic count, coliform count, and selective pathogen isolation were performed on food samples. Sixty percent of meal samples exceeded acceptable coliform limits for ready-to-eat foods. Staphylococcus aureus was recovered from 28 percent of cooked rice samples, suggesting inadequate temperature maintenance after cooking. Salmonella was isolated from two samples. Cook hand contamination correlated significantly with meal coliform counts. The study identifies inadequate cook training, absence of food thermometers, and poor kitchen cleaning practices as dominant safety management failures. Professional recommendations include mandatory food safety certification for HGSF cooks, provision of food thermometers, and periodic independent microbiological audits of HGSF meal production in Ogun State. Keywords: school feeding programme, food safety, Staphylococcus aureus, Ogun State, microbial quality