Tinjauan Keamanan Pangan Street Food Di Lingkungan Sekitar Universitas Sumatera Utara: Penilaian Angka Lempeng Total Pada Bubur Kacang Hijau, Es Dawet, Dan Es Tebu

Abstract

Street food plays a significant role in daily consumption, especially around university areas such as Universitas Sumatera Utara. However, the lack of hygiene control during preparation increases the risk of harmful microbial contamination. This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of three commonly consumed street food items mung bean porridge, es dawet, and sugarcane juice using the Total Plate Count (TPC) method. Samples were collected from street vendors around the Universitas Sumatera Utara area, serially diluted, inoculated on Plate Count Agar (PCA), and incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. The microbial counts obtained from the analysis were 109 x 10⁵ CFU/g for mung bean porridge, 192,5 x 10⁵ CFU/g for es dawet, and 125 x 10⁵ CFU/ml for sugarcane juice. All values exceeded the maximum microbial contamination limits established in Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 7388:2009. These findings indicate that the tested samples are microbiologically unfit for consumption. The contamination is likely due to the use of non-sterile water and poor hygiene practices by vendors, such as unclean hands and utensils. Therefore, increased food hygiene education and tighter monitoring of street food vendors are necessary to protect public health.