Does microbiological testing of foods and the food environment have a role in the control of foodborne disease in England and Wales?

Abstract

Summary This review looks at the contribution of microbiological sampling to the safety of retail foods in England and Wales. It compares sampling methods available and assesses the value of testing as part of outbreaks of foodborne disease, as part of routine management by local authorities, as part of work done or commissioned by the food industry, and as part of research. It confirms that microbiological testing has a role during outbreaks as it makes a significant contribution to help identify foods and other areas of greatest risk for future study. The review suggests that routine testing by local authorities is often of limited use and could be improved by more targeted surveillance. Testing could be better used to validate primary control methods, such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Any public health benefit from testing in the food industry is often restricted by client confidentiality. Microbial research on foods is important as it can lead to significant improvements in safety. Current microbiological methods are slow and, in future, rapid molecular methods may make an even bigger contribution to the control of foodborne disease.

A concurrent diagnosis of microbiological food safety output and food safety management system performance: Cases from meat processing industries

“…To move towards the advanced level, they should develop a statistically based sampling of incoming carcasses based on historical data of suppliers (e.g. Brown et al, 2000;Tebbutt, 2006;Duarte & Saraiva, 2008). Obviously, in contrast to company B, they had no problems with the food safety parameters in their products and environment (Table 3), which suggests that their current FSMS is sufficient to control these parameters (Jacxsens et al, 2009b).…”

Relation between microbial levels of ready-to-eat foods and the monitoring of compliance with HACCP-based own control programs in small Danish food outlets

“…This is due to the fact that they were prominently on display in the stores and can be perceived as potential high risk foods as they are ready-to-eat products that under favourable conditions may support the multiplication of various pathogenic bacteria (Sprenger 1999a, quoted from Clayton, Griffith, Price, & Peters (2002)) as described below. It should be noted there is no direct association between the aerobic counts and safety (Tebbutt, 2007). If the microbial flora is predominated by other groups than the lactic acid bacteria high aerobic counts may, however, to some degree indicate a potential for growth and production of toxin by bacterial pathogens once they have been introduced.…”

“…This brings into focus the abilities of the food inspectors to do so. As reviewed by Tebbutt (2007) reports in the literature show conflicting evidence. Some studies found correlation between poor ratings of restaurants or outlets by inspectors and probability of foodborne outbreaks or microbial levels (Irwin, Ballard, Grendon, & Kobayashi, 1989;Richardson & Stevens, 2003;Tebbutt & Southwell, 1997).…”

Qualidade higiênico-sanitária de esponjas utilizadas em unidades de alimentação e nutrição em Fortaleza, Ceará

“…Os coliformes fecais encontrados nas esponjas podem ser atribuídos a vários fatores, como, por exemplo, às prá-ticas higiênico-sanitárias inadequadas durante o processo de limpeza, além da contaminação cruzada advinda dos alimentos contaminados (TEBBUTT, 2007).…”