Food-associated bacteria in bioaerosols of delicatessens

Abstract

Air constituency of the delicatessen sections of a retail group was assessed for the presence and distribution of bioaerosols and the correlation with physical parameters. Total viable counts were determined and the total coliforms, Escherichia coli, other members of the Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus aureus were enumerated. These counts were relatively low, with the average total viable counts 1.34x102 cfu . m-3, Enterobacteriaceae 2.6x10 cfu . m-3 and S. aureus 2.2x10 cfu . m-3. Small numbers of total coliforms were detected and E. coli was not present at all. The distribution of Enterobacteriaceae differed significantly between three groups of visitor numbers and the total viable counts differed between two types of ventilation. The risk of infection should not be disregarded as a result of finding these organisms only in small numbers and could be a starting point in the prevention of food contamination, by regulating mechanisms to effectively minimize bioaerosols counts of enteric bacteria.

Mechanisms for floor surfaces or environmental ground contamination to cause human infection: a systematic review

“…These results were corroborated by three community-based studies [21–25] in which airborne dispersal of pathogenic bacteria was identified in a university classroom, retail outlets, and office suites, and all studies recorded increased human movement as significant predictors of contamination. Notably, two of the retail outlet studies found the airborne bacterial load to be significantly related to the number of visitors attending the outlet [24, 25].…”

An Investigation on Urban Office Workers' Cognition on Food Safety when Eating Out

“…Survey Methods. The survey questionnaire was made according to relevant literature which underwent repeatedly modifies and pre-survey modified form [3,5,6,8,9,10,11]. The questionnaire was included the basic information of the office workers, the place of eating out, awareness of food safety before and during eating out and food safety knowledge on eating out.…”