Abstract In Tamale, honey is used as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of both humans and animal infections, for religious ceremonies as well as a food source. News about adulteration of honey from the retail outlets has gained media attention and such messages have serious repercussions on the good image of honey. Notwithstanding, antimicrobial resistance of foodborne microorganisms constitute a serious public health hazard, thus the current study. The bacteria quality of the 25-honey sampled from the different retail outlets within the Tamale metropolis was determined using the method described by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 2001). The frequency of bacteria occurrences are as follows; Enterobacter spp. 15 (60%); Streptococcus spp. 14 (56%); Staphylococcus spp. 12 (48%) and E. coli 10 (40%). The least pH, 4.43±0.11SDvalue was recorded for samples obtained from the retailers outside the main Tamale central market whereas the highest pH value, 4.54 ± 0.07SD was from retailers inside the central market. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the bacteria isolates was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method with EUCAST interpretation. All the bacterial isolates showed resistance to at least two (2) of the antibiotics used in this study. The degree of resistance of isolates to the antibiotics ranges from 20 to 100%. The detection of antibiotic resistant organisms is a cause for concern as the consumption of honey containing these resistant organisms may prolong the treatment of food-borne diseases.
Keywords Honey, Antibiotic resistance, Tamale metropolis.