Machakos project studies agents affecting health of mother and child in a rural area of Kenya. XXIII bacterial contamination of foods commonly eaten by young children in Machakos, Kenya.

A simplified method, the Agar Immersion Plating and Contact (AIPC) slide technique was applied for the bacteriological examination of children's dishes and drinking water in Machakos District, Kenya. A total of 214 samples, collected from 106 households, were examined for degree of colonization by Enterobacteriaceae (E) and Staph. aureus (ST). Fourty four percent of the dishes and two percent of the water samples were unsafe with respect to Enterobacteriaceae. In 12% of the dishes and none of the water samples Staph. aureus occurred at levels above the threshold of acceptability. Colonization increased with storage time. Implications of these results in relation to diarrhoea morbidity patterns among young children are being investigated elsewhere.