Official food safety audits in large scale retail trades in the time of COVID: system control experiences supported by an innovative approach

This work describes a new methodology used in large scale retail trades in official food safety auditing processes developed during COVID19 emergency. The aim is to evaluate Food Business Operators’ (FBOs) Food Safety Management System and its dynamic implementation and to understand the FBO’s level of cultural maturity about food safety according to EU Regulation 2021/382. The innovation mainly consists of: a) a pre-audit phase when auditors analyse food business operator’s (FBO) selfchecked plan and further documents to identify “markers” and useful evidences (that would be collected in on-site inspections) to evaluate the application of plan by FBO’s workers; b) an audit phase consisted of both a check of the company procedures and documents performed by the auditors via web conference and of contextually onsite inspections in a sample of company’s supermarkets performed by inspectors teams. The audit methodology here described may be useful, even though it is expensive in terms of time and energy used, for both Competent Authority (CA) and FBOs, regardless of the period of the COVID emergency. The so-structured official control allows the auditors to collect both documentary and on-site evidence at the same time, reaching a broader vision of auditees (not limited to single supermarkets) and a compliant with reality FBOs risk classification. The new approach may give advantages to both audit actors, CA as well as FBO, who may collect “markers” and evidence of the self-checked plan useful to improve FBO’s food safety system on the basis of the critical aspects detected during auditing process

Evaluation of the European Union monitoring programme on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes (Decision 2010/678/EU) in Turin, Italy

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous bacterium, widely distributed in the environment; morover, its ability to survive at low temperatures and form protective biofilms makes it colonise and persist in food processing plants. Epidemiological data provided by EFSA in 2009 show that ready-to-eat (RTE) food – in particular, soft and semi-soft cheese, and fishery and meat products subjected to heat treatment –represents the most likely contaminated foodstuff. For this reason, the European Commission has developed (Dec. 2010/678/EU) a monitoring plan designed to evaluate the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in these products. The programme, developed in detail with reference to each member state, involved, among others, the city of Turin and has been set out from June to December 2011. The aim of this paper is to report the results obtained in the city of Turin. In total, 160 samples were analysed; only samples of smoked fish were found to be positive, while the pathogen was absent in cheese and meat products

Evaluation of the European Union monitoring programme on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes (Decision 2010/678/EU) in Turin, Italy

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous bacterium, widely distributed in the environment; morover, its ability to survive at low temperatures and form protective biofilms makes it colonise and persist in food processing plants. Epidemiological data provided by EFSA in 2009 show that ready-to-eat (RTE) food – in particular, soft and semi-soft cheese, and fishery and meat products subjected to heat treatment –represents the most likely contaminated foodstuff. For this reason, the European Commission has developed (Dec. 2010/678/EU) a monitoring plan designed to evaluate the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in these products. The programme, developed in detail with reference to each member state, involved, among others, the city of Turin and has been set out from June to December 2011. The aim of this paper is to report the results obtained in the city of Turin. In total, 160 samples were analysed; only samples of smoked fish were found to be positive, while the pathogen was absent in cheese and meat products

Escherichia coli O157 in foodstuffs: first year results of monitoring plan in Piedmont region, 2011

A total of 260 food samples were examined for the presence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157). Samples were collected between May 2011 and September 2011 in Piedmont region and included 120 minced meat and meat preparation (hamburger and meat balls) and 180 soft and semi-soft cheeses made from raw milk with less than 60 days of ripening. Samples were collected at re-tail level. All samples were tested using an Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) (AFNOR BIO 12/8 - 07/00), with kit VIDAS® ECO (bioMérieux); if positive, the samples have been tested with VIDAS® ICE and spread onto selective media to allow the growth of the strains. If present, all the strains have been tested to detect the genes encoding the pathogen factors (stx1, stx2 and eae). STEC O157 was not detected in any products. This survey on the presence of STEC O157 in foodstuffs provided data, demonstrating a low prevalence of the pathogen in our Region

Consumers’ perception and knowledge of food safety: results of questionnaires accessible on IZSalimenTO website

The present survey was undertaken to investigate consumers’ knowledge of the main foodborne agents and dietary regimen during pregnancy. Data were collected using monthly questionnaires available on IZSalimenTO website between March 2013 and January 2014. Hepatitis A virus questionnaire: 20 respondents (77%) recognized berries as foodstuff linked to the outbreak of hepatitis A. The majority correctly indicated as precautionary advice to boil berries before consumption. Botulism questionnaire: 29 respondents (62%) indicated pesto as food involved in botulism alert in July 2013. The risk of infant botulism in infant less than 1 year old due to honey consumption is known by 24 respondents (51%). Main foodborne disease questionnaire: the risk of infection by Salmonella after the consumption of foods made with raw eggs is known by the majority (94%; N=17) as well as the treatments to be applied in order to make fresh fish safe from parasites (76%). Pregnancy questionnaire: 20 respondents (74%) believed that washing vegetables and fruits with sodium bicarbonate or chlorate solution is able to inactivate Toxoplasma; only 4 (15%) reported both raw meat and vegetables washed with sodium bicarbonate as food at risk. Results indicate that all consumers should be trained on behaviour and dietary regimen to be adopted in pregnancy and in infant <1 year old. The website may be considered as a useful tool to assess consumers’ knowledge: both the news section and the contents published may be a source of information and education for consumers on food safety

Food allergens: state of the art in Piedmont region in the period 2011-2012

The US National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases defines food allergy as <em>adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food</em>. Undeclared allergens in food label represent a risk for consumers, as there is no therapy for food allergies. According to Directive 2003/89/EC, declaration of all ingredients and derived substances in the label is mandatory. In 2011-2012, in Piedmont region (North-western Italy) 285 food samples were analysed for β-lactoglobulin and 234 for egg proteins. The aim of this work was to analyse 2 years data in order to assess the presence of undeclared milk and egg allergenic proteins in food placed on the market checking the compliance of labeling of food allergens. Analyses were carried out with ELISA tests, both for the detection of the egg and milk proteins. β-lactoglobulin was found in 2.8% (8/286) of samples, while egg proteins in 4.7% (11/234)