Microbiological Risk Assessment of Food Handling in Catering Businesses Serving Offshore Oil Workers in Delta State

Catering businesses supplying food to offshore oil platforms and onshore oil worker camps in Delta State, South South Nigeria, are held to rigorous food safety standards, yet microbiological risk assessment practices in these businesses have not been systematically evaluated. This study conducts a microbiological risk assessment of food handling in 12 catering companies supplying oil sector facilities in Warri, Ughelli, and Sapele. Risk assessment combines on-site HACCP gap analysis, food handler hygiene assessments, and microbiological sampling of high-risk food items and food contact surfaces. International oil industry catering standards and HACCP Codex Alimentarius guidelines provide the evaluation benchmark. Sixty percent of companies lacked fully documented HACCP plans, and only 33 percent conducted routine end-product microbiological verification. Staphylococcus aureus was recovered from food handler hand swabs at 40 percent of companies at levels associated with contamination risk. Salmonella was isolated from 8 percent of cooked chicken samples post-preparation. Cross-contamination routes between raw and cooked food were identified in 7 of 12 facilities. The study recommends mandatory HACCP certification for oil sector food contractors, quarterly food handler medical checks, and end-product microbiological release testing as conditions of oil company catering contracts. Keywords: food safety, HACCP, oil sector catering, Delta State, Salmonella