INTRODUCTION

Clean water supplies are essential to the welfare and health of human and animal. Unhygienic
water contributes to the transmission of many diseases to human and livestock. The contamination of
natural water with fecal material from sewage and agricultural runoff may result in an increased risk of
disease transmission to humans (Geldreich, 1991; Wiggins, 1996). Food and water in particular have
been described as vehicles for the transmission of microbial diseases, among which are those caused by
coliforms (Ifediora et al., 2006). Coliforms are Gram-negative, rod-shaped, nonspore-forming aerobes
and facultative anaerobes that ferment lactose to produce acid and gas within 48 hours at 35C. They
are generally recognized as the normal flora of the intestine of humans and animals, although some
coliforms, including Salmonellae, Shigellae, and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, are notable enteric
pathogens. The presence of coliforms in food and water would, therefore, generally connote faecal
contamination, resulting in the risk of exposure to pathogens that cause gastrointestinal diseases, such
as diarrhea and typhoid fever. Poor environmental sanitation is largely responsible for much of the
contamination, and poor personal hygiene, particularly among food handlers, accounts specifically for
the contamination of foods while improper storage leads to multiplication of pathogens in food to
infective doses (Nkere, Ibe & Iroegbu, 2012). Therefore, this study was conducted to examine various
kinds of food bought from local vendors in Kuala Terengganu to estimate potential risk by detecting
faecal pollution namely the faecal coliforms. The study was also aimed to raise the awareness of the
people, animal owners and officials about the importance of microbiological examination of apparently
clean water and food supplies.