The importance and necessity of controlling food microbiological safety in the Republic of Armenia

Anaida Tsakanyan¹, Samvel Martirosyan², Nune Andreasyan²,Sona Nikolyan^2,3*

¹National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, Mkhitar Heratsi St., Yerevan, Armenia
²National Bureau of Expertises of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Tsovakal Isakov Avenue, Yerevan, Armenia
³Yerevan State University, The Research Institute of Biology, 1 Alex Manoogian, Yerevan, Armenia

ARTICLE INFO	ABSTRACT
TYPE: Original scientific paper https://doi.org/10.17508/CJFST.2026.18.1.02 PDF	Foodborne poisoning occurs when individuals consume food contaminated with various bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile, Klebsiella spp., Enterobacter spp., Citrobacter spp., Serratia spp., and Enterococcus spp. These bacteria pose significant public health risks worldwide. This study aimed to identify the causes of food poisoning incidents by examining food products and beverages given to the Department of Food and Beverage Expertise of the National Bureau of Expertise of the Republic of Armenia in accordance with regulatory documents approved by the Armenian government.A total of 138 samples were found to be non-compliant with microbiological standards, corresponding to 242 non-compliant indicators, as several samples failed multiple criteria simultaneously. Non-compliance related to mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria (QMAFAnM), yeast counts, fungal counts, and combined yeast and fungal counts was observed in 25.6% (95% CI: 20.1–31.1), 2.5% (95% CI: 0.5–4.4), 5.8% (95% CI: 1.3–10.3), and 2.1% (95% CI: 0.3–3.9) of samples, respectively. Coliforms were detected in 42.1% (95%CI 35.8-48.4) of the samples, in particular Escherichia coli was revealed in 9.5% (95% CI5.8- 13.2) of the samples. Staphylococcus aureus was found in 5.8% (95% CI 2.8-8.74). Proteus spp. was present in 3.3% (95% CI 1.1-5.5) of cases. Sulfite-reducing clostridia (presumably Clostridium perfringens) appeared in 1.2% of the samples, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was identified in 1.7% (95%CI0.1-3.3) of cases, and Bacillus cereus was detected in 0.4% of the total samples. The research indicated that food products contaminated with pathogenic or opportunistic microorganisms can lead to foodborne illness. Ensuring food safety is a collective responsibility that requires the combined efforts of all stakeholders involved.
*CORRESPONDENCE Sona Nikolyan nikolyan.sona@gmail.com
ARTICLE HISTORY Received: June 2, 2025 Accepted: November 26, 2025
CITATION Tsakanyan A, Martirosyan S, Andreasyan N, Nikolyan S. The importance and necessity of controlling food microbiological safety in the Republic of Armenia. Croatian Journal of Food Science and Technology (2026) 18 (1) 18―26
COPYRIGHT: © 2026 by the author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
	KEYWORDS food safety; foodborne bacteria; bacterial foodborne poisoning occasions
	KEY CONTRIBUTION The presence of E. coli in the ready-to-eat dishes suggests the possibility of secondary contamination. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was predominantly present in water samples, including both tap and bottled water. The examination of food products and beverages showed that each tested sample could fail to meet regulatory standards based on multiple criteria.