Microbiological profiles and safety of street-vended food collected from vendors in AddisrnAbaba, Ethiopia were determined in 1998 and 1999. The 150 samples of foods investigatedrnconsisted of sambllssa (legume-based), cooked and sauced macaroni, lentil sandwich, kitforn(raw minced and spiced meat dish) and egg sandwich. All samples of kitfo and eggrnsandwich were held at temperatures that permit bacterial growth (15.5-24S C) and (15.5-rn34S C), respectively. Most samples of the other food products were stored at temperaturernrange of 15.5-34S C. In general, sambllssa had low counts of aerobic mesophilic bacteriarnand staphylococci. Aerobic bacterial spores, yeasts, members of Enterobacteriaceae,rncolifonns and Bacillus cerellS were isolated rarely in sambllssa. Highest aerobic mesophilicrncounts (> 108 cfb/g) were recorded in egg sandwich. The other food products containedrncounts as high as 107 cfu/g. Presumptive Bacillus cereus attained greatest population levelrnin macaroni samples (> 10' cfu/g). In other dishes it had counts> 104 cfuig. Majority of thernsamples which were positive tor aerobic bacterial spores, coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae,rnstaphylococci and yeasts contained >104rn, 10', 105rn, 105rn, and 104 cfuig, respectively. In thernstreet foods considered in this study, moulds were either detected rarely or not at all.rnVariations in counts among the samples of the respective street foods were obvious (CV rn10%).A total of 1552 bacterial isolates were screened from foods obtained from street vendorsrnand were characterized into various genera and bacterial groups. Gram-positive organismsrnpredominated (76.9%) along with Staphylococcus and Micrococcus species comprisingrn22.8% and 15% of aerobic microflora, respectively. From Gram-negative organisms,rnmembers of a family Enterobacteriaceae (14.5%) were frequently encountered. Salmonellarnwas recovered from samples of egg sandwich and kitfo and macaroni yielded Shigella.rnChallenge studies showed that the test strains, Salmonella typhimul'illlll, Shigella flexnerirnand Staphylococcus aureus grew in egg sandwich, kitfo and macaroni to markedly highrnlevels. The faulty handling and serving operations, poor sanitation of the vending sites,rntime-temperature abuse during holding, addition of raw products either to cooked orrnuncooked dishes, the use of unclean multipurpose cloth and water of dubious qualityrn(reused water) were deemed potentially hazardous. Thus, education of both vendors andrnconsumers in basic principles of hygiene is an urgent issue by concerned bodies.