Food safety critically reliant on the behaviors adopted by foodservice personnel, involved in various stages of meal preparation, from the supply of raw food materials until its distribution to the ...consumer. The purpose of this work was to collect information on the level of knowledge on food safety, the correct application of the Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the attitudes of the operators involved in collective catering. The survey was conducted among 15 social catering companies in Apulia (Italy) using a modified Sharif and Al-Malki (2010) anonymous questionnaire intended to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the food handlers. The results highlight the need to improve both knowledge and practices regarding food hygiene and safety in order to minimize the risk of transmitting foodborne diseases. More careful planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of training programs for foodservice workers is required, taking into consideration the provisions of European food laws.
In January 2011, a workshop was organized by the EU FP7 Veg-i-Trade project to capture opinions of stakeholders on food safety issues in the global fresh produce supply chain. Food safety experts ...from various stakeholder types in the farm-to-fork chain were represented: farmer related organizations (n = 6), fresh produce processing and trading companies (n = 17), retail (n = 3), consumer organizations (n = 2), competent authorities (n = 7) and lastly research institutes and universities (n = 19). The experts who originated mainly from European countries (92.6%) were grouped in nine discussion groups per type of stakeholder and asked to rank food safety issues via a scoring approach according to perceived importance from their stakeholder type point of view. Also information sources for opinion making, appropriate food safety control measures and perceived contextual factors increasingly challenging governance of food safety in fresh produce were ranked according to perceived importance. Although some differences were noted between opinions of the different stakeholders, there was in general an agreement on the main priorities in food safety of fresh produce. Bacterial pathogens were overall considered to be the most important food safety issue for fresh produce, followed by foodborne viruses, pesticide residues and mycotoxins. Alert systems such as the European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) were considered as the most important source of information of food safety issues, followed by reports of international organizations (e.g. WHO, EFSA), legislative documents (e.g. EU legislation), national reports (e.g. on monitoring hazards, foodborne outbreaks) and exchange of information between people (informal contacts). Concerning the control measures, the application of good agricultural practices (GAP) was identified to be the most important control measure to assure the safety of fresh produce, followed by the application of good hygienic practices (GHP) and the certification of food safety management systems (FSMS). Increasing international trade and globalization were overall expected to have a large impact on food safety in fresh produce. Other contextual factors perceived to be important were the food safety policies by governments and the (lack of) food safety knowledge by consumers and other stakeholders of the fresh produce supply chain. Although the various stakeholder groups may conceive issues differently from their proper position in the fresh produce supply chain, no deep disagreements emerged. This type of workshop enhances interaction and risk communication between stakeholders and contributes to a better understanding of each other's concerns, constraints and interests to deal with the food safety of the increasingly complex and globalized fresh produce supply chain.
► Workshop with experts on food safety in the fresh produce supply chain. ► Bacterial pathogens, viruses and pesticide residues most important concerns. ► Good agricultural practices and good hygienic practices most important measures. ► Increasing international trade most important contextual factor. ► Importance of risk communication between stakeholders highlighted.
Infectious diseases in dairy cattle are of significant concern to dairy industries because of their huge impact on animal health, milk production, and economics. Mycobacterium avium subsp. ...paratuberculosis (MAP) is a pathogenic bacterium that causes Johne's disease, one of the important endemic infectious diseases in dairy cattle. Contamination of bulk tank milk with MAP can occur through direct shedding into milk by infected cows (internal route), fecal contamination (fecal route), or introduction of soil and water containing MAP (environmental route). Humans can be exposed to MAP via raw milk consumption; additionally, there are reports of MAP survival in milk after pasteurization. The risk of human consumption is particularly important due to an association between MAP and human Crohn's disease. In the current study, we used a probabilistic modeling framework to predict the level of MAP contamination per liter in the bulk tank milk and weigh the relative importance of each contamination route. Our model focused on several different infection statuses and the contribution of each group to environmental and fecal contamination, in addition to internal route shedding. We assessed the influence of common hygiene practices, such as washing of udders before milking and the use of milk filters, on the concentration of MAP in bulk tank milk. We extracted parameters and their distributions from national surveys and thorough literature search. Our baseline model comprising all hygiene practices provided an average estimate of 0.76 log CFU/L for the final concentration of MAP in bulk tank milk, with a maximum of 6.70 log CFU/L and a minimum of 0.04 log CFU/L depending on herd size and the ratio of infection statuses. Results from sensitivity analyses indicated that the average fecal contamination showed the greatest impact on the final MAP concentration per liter in bulk tank milk, followed by herd size and washing efficiency. This study emphasized that good hygiene practices are crucial for maintaining the quality of raw milk in an endemically-infected dairy herd.
•Impact of cow infection statuses on MAP contamination of bulk tank milk.•Evaluation of washing and cleaning practices prior to milking on a dairy farm.•Model of MAP contamination routes (fecal, internal and environmental) in bulk milk.•Emphasis on good hygiene practices and herd composition in a dairy farm.
The fundamental principle of controlling microbial contamination during slaughter is based on sanitary and hygienic processes. Both choosing abattoir technologies and conducting individual operations ...should be approached with the primary goal of minimizing microbial load on the final product. Nevertheless, even when best hygienic abattoir practices are applied, complete prevention of all microbial contamination of carcasses is unachievable under commercial conditions. Therefore, in some situations it may be considered necessary to further reduce the microbial loads on carcasses through application of additional control interventions, i.e. decontamination treatments. Treatments applied on poultry carcasses or parts include water, steam and chemical solutions (e.g., lactic or acetic acid, chlorine-based compounds, cetylpyridinium chloride, and trisodium phosphate) and result in overall microbial reductions of 0.6–3.8 log units; antimicrobial activity of some chemicals (e.g., chlorine compounds) is reduced in the presence of organic material. Decontamination treatments of hides (pre-skinning) and/or cattle carcasses reduce Salmonella by <0.7–5.1 log units. Salmonella prevalence reductions achievable by decontamination of porcine carcasses seem to be at least two-fold. Overall Salmonella reductions on final carcasses and meat can be significantly improved when multiple decontamination treatments are applied sequentially during slaughter and dressing operations. It is important to note that decontamination interventions should be validated and considered as part of a hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP)-based food safety system which is subject to verification and auditing, and they should never be used as a substitute for good sanitation and proper hygiene practices.
•Pet reptiles are reservoirs of Salmonella spp. transmissible to humans.•Prevention of Reptile-associated salmonellosis (RAS) relies on good hygiene practices.•A cross −sectional study was conducted ...among reptile owners in Italy.•Average reptile owners were unaware of basic hygiene measures for prevention of RAS.
Reptiles are becoming increasingly popular as pets. Those animals are reservoirs of a wide variety of Salmonella serotypes, that may be transmitted to warm-blooded animals, including humans. Accordingly, good hygiene practices related to husbandry are important for prevention of Reptile-associated salmonellosis (RAS). A cross–sectional study was conducted among reptile owners, by administration of a detailed questionnaire. In addition, the cloacal swabs of the sampled reptiles were screened for Salmonella spp. and the husbandry management practices were evaluated in order to assess any possible link between the presence of Salmonella spp. and the hygiene practices. The response rate to the questionnaire was 66.6% (100 out of 150 contacted owners). In 26 out of 100 families, members at risk of RAS (children and elderly) were present. One hundred animals were screened for the presence of Salmonella spp. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. carriers was 57% (Confidence interval 47–66%). Co-habitation of the animals with other reptiles in the same terrarium was associated with a 2-fold increase in the risk of infection by Salmonella spp.(Odds ratio=2.3, CI 1.2;13, p=0.02). Animals handled by owners that did not report washing their hands after the cleaning procedures or the handling were exposed to a 3-fold increase in the risk of infection (OR=3.1, CI 1.1;16, p=0.019). When drinking water was not replaced regularly, the animals were 7 times more exposed to infection (OR=6.8, CI 1.8;25, p=0.005). When the diet was constituted by rodents, 27 out of 48 reptiles (56.3%) were fed with live animals. In the present survey the typical reptile owner was a person, aware of ethological aspects of reptile husbandry but ignorant of some ethical recommendations and poorly informed about the health risks for himself and for the other family members. Prevention of RAS must rely mainly on information and education, with the veterinarian health bodies primarily involved in this difficult task.
Abstract
Objectives
The aim of this study was to assess the microbiological quality and safety of street food sold in the main streets and informal markets of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.
...Materials and Methods
From 83 different vendors selling different types of foods, 83 samples of ready-to-eat (RTE) street food were analyzed. Mesophiles, Escherichia coli and total coliforms were used as quality and hygiene indicators. Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) Salmonella and coagulase-positive staphylococci were used as food safety indicators.
Results
High proportions of unsatisfactory food samples were found in both traditional hot (76.7%) and cold (75%) foods. L. monocytogenes and Salmonella were tested negative in this survey. However, when coagulase-positive staphylococci was used as a food safety indicator, approximately 25% (23/83) of the food samples analyzed were classified as unsatisfactory/potentially hazardous.
Conclusions
These results, showing that street food sold in Maputo clearly requires adequate sanitary conditions for its preparation and sale, contribute to the development of good manufacturing practices (GMP) for street food in Maputo, Mozambique. This is the first report on the microbiological quality and safety of street food in Mozambique.
Eleven schools in three different hygiene categories were given hygiene training as an intervention to reported low hygiene standards. Staff hygiene knowledge scores, food temperature, food service ...time and microbiological quality of jollof rice (cooked rice in tomato sauce and fish) were measured before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon's Signed- Rank Test for repeated measures on SPSS were used to evaluate the effect of GHP intervention. Staff hygiene knowledge and practice scores, food temperature, aerobic colony count (ACC) and Staphylococcus aureus load in ready to eat (RTE) meal improved significantly (p ≤ 0.05). Food hygiene training remains an essential legal and industrial requirement.
•Good hygiene practices intervention in the form of training improved kitchen staff hygiene awareness scores.•Staff temperature and time monitoring for ready to eat (RTE) meals significantly improved after training.•Microbiological contaminants in RTE meals reduced with a significant reduction in ACC and S. aureus levels after training.
is an emerging foodborne pathogen that commonly colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of poultry, causing gastroenteritis. It has been related to several clinically important infections, including ...colitis and hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, recurrent diarrhea, and bacteremia in the human population. The bacterium may be transmitted to humans through undercooked poultry meat. In order to investigate the occurrence of
in raw retail chicken meat (thighs and breasts), we analyzed 240 samples: 120 chicken thigh and 120 chicken breast samples. The samples were analyzed by means of an isolation protocol using Steele and McDermott's modified filtration technique on Brucella agar supplemented with 5% of defibrinated sheep's blood. The presumptive colonies were biochemically identified and analyzed using a previously described conventional PCR test based on the 16S rRNA gene. In total, 35% of analyzed samples were positive using the microbiological protocol and 45% were positive by PCR. These results suggest that
can be transmitted to humans through the handling and consumption of raw poultry meat, representing a risk for food business operators and consumers. Efforts to control
in broiler meat should prioritize the implementation of stringent hygienic practices across all stages of the food chain, from the farm to the consumer.
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