Elien De Boeck

Effectiveness of inactivation of foodborne pathogens during simulated home pan frying of steak, hamburger or meat strips.

In order to evaluate the effect of simulated home pan frying of raw meat and meat preparations of different animal species on the thermal inactivation of pathogens, the heat resistance (D-value) of three strains of Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and two strains of generic E. coli was validated in BHI and adjusted BHI (i.e. pH5.6 and 1.5% NaCl) at 60°C. The D-values were obtained of the linear phase of the survivor curves created in GInaFiT, a freeware tool to fit models to experimental data. The obtained D-values corresponded to those previously published in literature and confirmed L. monocytogenes to be the most heat resistant pathogen among them. Heat treatment in adjusted BHI significantly increased heat-resistance of E. coli O157:H7 and generic E. coli. Subsequently, the thermal inactivation of L. monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., C. jejuni and E. coli O157:H7 was evaluated using a standardized procedure simulating commonly used home pan frying of various types of meat including steaks or filets, hamburgers and meat strips from various animal species such as pork, beef, chicken, lamb and some turkey, horse, kangaroo and crocodile meat. Corresponding F70-values were calculated based upon measured core time/temperature profiles. It was noted that a core temperature of 70 °C was not always achieved and, moreover, a heat treatment equivalent to 2 min at 70 °C was also not always obtained. This was in particular noted in hamburgers although the meat was visually judged well done. On several occasions, residual survivors of the initial inoculated (4 logCFU/g) food borne pathogens could be recovered either by enumeration (limit of detection 1 logCFU/g) or by the presence/absence testing per 25 g. Pan frying of hamburgers yielded the highest number of surviving pathogenic bacteria (46%), followed by well-done filets and steaks (13%) and meat strips (12%). Taking only steaks (beef, horse, kangaroo, crocodile and turkey) into account, residual detection of pathogens occurred for all levels of doneness: 18% for well-done, 71% for medium and even 90% for rare steaks. Numbers of L. monocytogenes recovered after heat treatment ranged from <1 logCFU/g to 2.6 logCFU/g. Although, the prevalence of pathogens in meat might be low, and the numbers present in case of natural contamination are probably lower than the current used inoculum of 4 logCFU/g, consumers could still be exposed to surviving food borne pathogens in case of these commonly used pan frying of raw meat and meat preparations at consumers home.

Growth and inactivation of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in broth and validation in ground pork meat during simulated home storage abusive temperature and home pan-frying

Ground pork meat with natural microbiota and inoculated with low initial densities (1–10 or 10–100 CFU/g) of Salmonella enterica or Listeria monocytogenes was stored under abusive temperature at 10°C and thermally treated by a simulated home pan-frying procedure. The growth and inactivation characteristics were also evaluated in broth. In ground pork meat, the population of S. enterica increased by less than one log after 12-days of storage at 10°C, whereas L. monocytogenes increased by 2.3 to 2.8 log units. No unusual intrinsic heat resistance of the pathogens was noted when tested in broth at 60°C although shoulders were observed on the inactivation curves of L. monocytogenes. After growth of S. enterica and L. monocytogenes at 10°C for 5 days to levels of 1.95 log CFU/g and 3.10 log CFU/g, respectively, in ground pork meat, their inactivation in the burger subjected to a simulated home pan-frying was studied. After thermal treatment S. enterica was undetectable but L. monocytogenes was recovered in three out of six of the 25 g burger samples. Overall, the present study shows that data on growth and inactivation of broths are indicative but may underestimate as well as overestimate behavior of pathogens and thus need confirmation in food matrix conditions to assess food safety in reasonably foreseen abusive conditions of storage and usual home pan-frying of meat burgers in Belgium.

Needs of beneficiaries related to the format and content of food parcels in Ghent, Belgium

Purpose As food aid is still for a great part dependant upon the donation of food surplus and as the number of persons relying on food charities is increasing, it is important to further investigate which donation system responds best to the needs of the beneficiaries. This article provides a preliminary study investigating the needs regarding the format and content of the food parcels in a selected social service in Ghent, Belgium. The ‘format’ relates to how the food parcels are distributed, the ‘content’ to the usability of the food products and whether additional products currently not offered are required by the beneficiaries. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a qualitative study at a selected food charity in Ghent, using a semi-structured in-depth interview with 30 respondents who receive food parcels. Findings The food parcel beneficiaries report the need for freedom of choice regarding the offered food products (format). Fixed food parcels should be avoided. Also a need for more...

Interplay between food safety climate, food safety management system and microbiological output in farm butcheries and affiliated butcher shops

T consumption of phosphates, particularly added inorganic phosphates may cause several health problems for the general population. Thus, it is important to know the levels of added phosphates in foodstuffs namely in seafood. In this context, this work aimed to evaluate to what extent the legislated maximum phosphates value of 5 g P2O5/kg (1 g P2O5/kg in surimi) that can be added and has been followed in the last two decades in Portugal. For this purpose the organic baseline levels of phosphates were characterized in several species of crustaceans, molluscs and fish. For the evaluation of commercial samples data was gathered from the results of quality control samples analysed during two decades at the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere. The natural phosphates variations obtained allowed to define limits above which it can be said that phosphates were added and to quantify them. Average phosphates contents varied between 3.5 and 6.5 g P2O5/kg in wild sea bream and chub mackerel, respectively. In the case of commercial samples fish fingers presented the lowest average values of total phosphates (1.3 g P2O5/kg) while salted and dry cod, hake and shrimp had contents higher that 10 g P2O5/kg in some of the products analysed. Despite these high values the majority of the analysed samples are within the allowed limits. Though commonly the content of organic phosphates has been estimated using the conversion factor of 10.6 mg P/g of protein the natural phosphates and protein variations determined in seafood showed that it is not adequate for all seafood products and thus new conversion factors were proposed.A toxicity is still a major public health issue associated with cancer and other health disorders. The majority of studies on arsenic toxicity have focused on the exposure due to water intake with very few studies on exposure from food consumption. This is of major concern as current research clearly shows that in Europe alone, inorganic arsenic; the most toxic form accounts for only 5% in water and 95% in food. Rice is a significant source of arsenic exposure. With over half of the world population relying on rice as a staple and increasing dependence on rice based products, a significant proportion of the population is in danger of arsenic toxicity. In addition, there is limited research on biomarkers of toxicity and the direct health effects of arsenic from rice intake. It is therefore crucial that investigation into arsenic exposure from rice consumption is carried out. A comparison study between populations with different susceptibility towards arsenic exposure will be executed. A general UK population with no background arsenic exposure (for example from water contamination) and an Indian population with environmental exposure to arsenic will be compared to determine the health effect of arsenic toxicity caused by dietary rice intake. Total arsenic in rice and urine will be estimated by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Urinary arsenic speciation will be measured by Ion Chromatography Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS), to determine arsenic metabolism which is a good indicator of inorganic arsenic exposure. The use of protein misfolding and aggregation as a biomarker of arsenic toxicity will also be evaluated.Introduction: Decontamination of surfaces is a vitally important process in industrial settings, however in order to assess the efficacy of an antimicrobial, it is imperative that an accurate bacterial enumeration method is in place to avoid over or under-estimating the remaining bacterial count. Aggregation can be common in biofilm forming organisms such as B. cereus, therefore Bacillus subtilis spores are a good safe alternative to model pathogenic organism. In these communication spores of B. subtilis are exposed to different conditions and their total counts as well as viable counts are assessed by plating and flow cytometry (FCM).Background: Decontamination of surfaces is a vitally important process in industrial settings. Bacillus subtilis spores are a good safe alternative to model pathogenic organisms such as B. cereus and Clostridium difficile. In this communication a range of novel and commonly used antimicrobials are applied to cells and spores of B. subtilis. By looking for alternative antimicrobial agents, this could have far reaching implications for use against antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Furthermore, employing natural antimicrobials will have a less detrimental effect on the environment.Common methods of cell killing are heating 85 C for 35 minutes is our standard method and 50% Ethanol (water) treatment is used to kill off vegetative cells (leaving spores unharmed). Common antimicrobials: Peracetic acid (PAA) is a strong oxidizing agent thought to be capable of killing spores as well as cells and chlorineoxidizing agent commonly used in bleach. Natural Antimicrobial: Green tea extract believed to exert an antimicrobial effect due to tea polyphenols.M media have a considerable potential effect on health behavior and should be considered as one of the tools that play an important role in communicating about food safety and health research and services to people as well as in shaping public perceptions and decisions about health.Healthcare professionals may influence the public with credible, evidence-based and up-todate information on a wide range of health issues either through campaigns promoting the use of specific procedures or through the coverage of health related issues aiming to encourage the use of effective services and discourage those of unproved effectiveness. The impact of media advertising on adults, children and adolescents is well documented as is concern about some aspects of the media’s powerful influence on attitudes and behaviors towards healthy eating habits and lifestyles. With an estimated two billion people using the internet worldwide social media applications and the digital environment became the new way people access information. According to the European Food Information Council users of social networks are playing a fundamental role as disseminators of food safety risk and benefit information. So, for food professionals, being able to monitor online conversations could provide an insight into consumers’ perceptions of food issues and insight in the development of effective communication strategies that provides a framework for developing and delivering messages aimed at changing nutrition and food safety practices. The guidance will continue to evolve over time just as the field of social media itself is constantly evolving.