The prevalence of antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus in 50 samples of ready to eat food, hand swabs and utensil swabs of street vendors was studied. 58% of samples were contaminated with S. aureus. The highest count (5.66x10⁴cfu/25cm²) was found in hand swab samples. The antibiotic resistance of the isolates was tested using 12 antibiotics. 72.41% isolates were resistant to Erythromycin while 31.03% isolates were resistant to Ampicillin, Ofloxacin and Sparfloxacin. Overall 62% of S. aureus isolates were multidrug resistant. The study indicated that ready to eat food samples, utensils used in their preparation and vendors serving hands are frequently contaminated with S. aureus and their resistance pattern can cause greater risk in transfer of resistance to other bacteria through food chain. This could be common route for spread of resistant Staphylococcus food borne infections.

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