Foodborne pathogens are the leading cause of illness and death in developing countries and are often associated with poor hygiene and unsafe food storage conditions. Using central cold rooms with alternate power supply in preserving meats due to erratic power supply is common among meat traders in Nigeria. However, the public health safety of the operations of this practice remains un-investigated. We conducted a microbial assessment of aseptically collected meat swabs from three selected major cold rooms in Ibadan for