Microbiological Parameters in the Primary Production of Berries: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The primary production of fresh soft fruits was considered to be a suspected critical point for the contamination of frozen berries that were responsible for the large 2013–2014 Hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak in Europe. In this study, an Italian berries’ production area was studied for its agro-technical characteristics, and the fresh fruits were analyzed for the presence of enteric viruses (HAV and Norovirus (NoV) genogroup I and genogroup II (GGI and GGII)), the enumeration of hygienic quality parameters, and the prevalence of bacterial pathogens. A total of 50 producers were sampled, who specialized in the exclusive or shared cultivation of berries. Escherichia coli was detected in two blackberry samples, whereas HAV and Norovirus were not detected. The samples were negative for Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The farms’ attributes were not associated with positive samples, apart from the presence of E. coli and the aerobic mesophilic bacteria for blackberry that were statistically correlated. In blueberries, the high aerobic mesophilic count could likely be associated with the resistance of the outer layer to handling. However, the two pathogens (Salmonella spp. and STEC) and the targeted viruses (HAV, NoV GGI and GGII) were not detected, highlighting the low risk of foodborne pathogens and viral contamination at the primary production stage of the berry food chain in the area considered in this pilot study.

Occurrence of selected viral and bacterial pathogens and microbiological quality of fresh and frozen strawberries sold in Spain

“…The mean initial TAM count of our investigation was almost in the same range as that reported by Hassenberg et al (2010) in fresh strawberries (4.27 log 10 CFU/g). In other study conducted in 61 samples of fresh berries, TAM count ranged between 1.7 and 6.9 log 10 CFU/g, with a mean value of 2.77 log 10 CFU/g and 86 % of prevalence (65/75) (Macori et al, 2018). On the food chain production, fresh strawberries receive minimal processing to avoid being damaged and the consequent increased risk of spoilage.…”

Microbial hazards associated with pig carcasses and molecular detection of enterotoxigenic <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> at different stages of the slaughter process

“…Abattoirspecific microbiological data on carcass contamination is also important (Spescha et al, 2006;Milios et al, 2014) because carcasses might be contaminated despite the absence of visible contaminants (Gill, 2004). Verification of slaughter hygienic conditions in most cases involves monitoring the microbial status of carcasses by determining indicator organisms like Staphylococcus aureus, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp, Hepatits A virus and Noroviruses from farms and carcasses at the end of slaughter (Brown et al, 2000;Zweifel et al, 2005;Ruby et al, 2007;Macori et al, 2018). Meat-borne diseases and intoxication is believed to be a major and widespread problem (Chugh, 2008).…”

Strategies to reduce microbial risk and improve quality of fresh and processed strawberries: A review

“…In the case of strawberries, 1 out of 918 samples contained NoV GII and 1 was positive for HAV . Macori et al (2018) evaluated the same virus in 75 berry samples from primary production but the survey did not include strawberries. No viruses were found.…”