Assurance of Microbiological Safety in a University Feeding System

Solberg, Myron; Miskimin, D. K.; Kramer, Rachel Z; Riha, William E.; Franke, William; Buchanan, Robert L.; O'Leary, Virginia S.; Berkowitz, Kathleen A.

doi:10.4315/0022-2747-39.3.200

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Randomized inspections of food service establishments are an important tool in ensuring food safety. Over 30 years ago, a food safety program was developed at Rutgers University in response to a foodborne disease outbreak (19). The program focuses on surface sanitation and microbial content of foods as indicators of risk of foodborne disease (18).…”

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confidence: 99%

Statistical Distributions Describing Microbial Quality of Surfaces and Foods in Food Service Operations

Montville

Schaffner

2004

Journal of Food Protection

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Data on the microbial quality of food service kitchen surfaces and ready-to-eat foods were collected over a period of 10 years in Rutgers University dining halls. Surface bacterial counts, total aerobic plate counts, and total and fecal coliform counts were determined using standard methods. Analysis was performed on foods tested more than 50 times (primarily lunch meats and deli salads) and on surfaces tested more than 500 times (36 different surfaces types, including pastry brushes, cutting boards, and countertops). Histograms and statistical distributions were determined using Microsoft Excel and Palisades Bestfit, respectively. All data could be described by lognormal distributions, once data above and below the lower and upper limits of detection were considered separately. Histograms for surfaces counts contained one peak near 1 CFU/4 cm2. Surfaces with higher levels of contamination tended to be nonmetal, with the exception of buffalo chopper bowls, which commonly had high counts. Mean counts for foods ranged from 2 to 4 log CFU/g, with shrimp salad, roast beef, and bologna having higher means. Coleslaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad (all commercially processed products, not prepared in the dining halls) had lowest overall means. Coliforms were most commonly found in sealeg salad (present in 61% of samples) and least commonly found in coleslaw (present in only 7% of samples). Coliform counts (when present) were highest on average in shrimp salad and lowest in coleslaw. Average coliform counts for most products were typically between 1 and 2 log most probable number per gram. Fecal coliforms were not typically found in any deli salads or lunch meats.

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confidence: 99%

Statistical Distributions Describing Microbial Quality of Surfaces and Foods in Food Service Operations

Montville

Schaffner

2004

Journal of Food Protection

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“…The methods used for surface sanitation testing were originally described by Solberg et al (1976) and have been recently updated (Solberg et al 1990). A gamma irradiation sterilized adhesive tape (Con-Tact-It Tape, Birko Corp., Henderson, Colo.) was utilized to transfer surface samples to petri plates containing plate count agar.…”

Section: Surface Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The methods for food testing have been described previously (Solberg et al 1976). All food samples were stored at -2OC for less than six days prior to testing.…”

Section: Food Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A gamma irradiation sterilized adhesive tape (Con-Tact-It Tape, Birko Corp., Henderson, Colo.) was utilized to transfer surface samples to petri plates containing plate count agar. This method has been described in detail previously (Solberg et al 1976) and was subsequently shown to correlate with the more common swab testing (Stinson and Tiwari 1978). Practical guidelines for surface sanitation have been used since the inception of the program (Table 1).…”

Section: Surface Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surface Sanitation and Microbiological Food Quality of a University Foodservice Operation

Buckalew

Schaffner

Solberg

1996

Foodservice Res Int

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A microbiological testing and support surveillance program monitors the sanitary state of food contact surfaces and performs food audits of the Rutgers Dining Services facilities. Analysis of the data over a recent two year period revealed that unacceptable surface sanitation was correlated with the physical presence of food debris (23.4 %), water (45.9%), or both (57.8 %). Follow up testing revealed that the program was able to consistently reduce the probability of surface failure reoccurrence. Poor equipment design was often contributory to especially problematic surfaces. Lunch meat (36.4% unacceptable) and raw meat (34.1 % unacceptable) were found to be the most problematic types of food according to university guidelines. Foods failures were most frequently due to unacceptable levels of indicator bacteria including total coliforms (59.4% of failures, 15.4% of total samples), total aerobic counts (43.4% offailures, 11.2% of total samples) and Escherichia coli (24.5% offailures, 6.3% of total samples). The most common type of failure due to an unacceptable level of a foodborne pathogen was due to unacceptable levels of Staphylococcus aureus (12.6% of failures, 3.3% of total food samples.

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