Food risk communication to consumers: The scare of antibiotic resistant bacteria in chicken

In 2014 a food scare following a report on antibiotic resistant bacteria in chicken fillets led to a dramatic drop in sales of chicken. Actors in the food chain as well as the authorities were unprepared for the consequences of the case. The study investigated how risk communicators coped with the crisis through in-depth interviews with 14 relevant actors. The case study illustrated how delayed risk communication from authorities opened for stakeholders with contradictory views and other agendas. Further, although the risk communicators were aware of the concept of risk perception, they may not truly acknowledge the power triggering emotions

Finansiell risiko i oljebransjen : et kvalitativt studium om hvordan oljeselskaper på norsk sokkel velger å håndtere sin finansielle risiko

Studentarbeid i økonomi og ledelse (bachelorgrad) - Høgskolen i Bodø, 2009Denne oppgaven har hatt til hensikt å belyse hvordan norske oljeselskaper velger å håndtere sin finansielle risiko. For å beskrive dette nærmere har vi underbygd vår problemstilling med underproblemstillinger, slik at vi har fått et mer helhetlig og oversiktlig inntrykk. Vi har ved kvalitativ datainnsamling intervjuet oljeselskaper som opererer på norsk sokkel. Denne undersøkelsen har dannet grunnlag for vår analyse. Den finansielle risikostyringen i oljebransjen er interessant fordi den i stor grad påvirker norsk økonomi i den forstand at oljeindustrien utgjør en vesentlig del av norsk industri. Våre funn har gitt oss svar på at samtlige i vårt utvalg er eksponert for de komponentene av markedsrisiko vi har tatt for oss; valutarisiko, råvareprisrisiko og renterisiko. Gjennom våre undersøkelser har vi observert at graden av sikring og hvordan de forskjellige selskapene velger å foreta sin sikring, varierer. Vi ser også at det ikke nødvendigvis er samsvar mellom grad av risikoeksponering og hvorvidt risikoen blir håndtert. Blant annet ser vi at sikringen av råvareprisrisiko, det vil si svingninger i oljeprisen, er den risikoen oljeselskapene gjerne definerer som sin kjernerisiko, men at det ikke er denne risikoen som er viet størst fokus når det gjelder håndtering. Gjennom våre intervjuer har vi også observert at normprissystemet spiller en vesentlig rolle for hvordan flere av oljeselskapene håndterer sin risiko. I vår analyse kan det se ut som at bedriftene med lavest omsetning har et større fokus på risikostyring. Dette kan komme av at ved store økonomiske svingninger står disse bedriftene svakere enn de med en større omsetning. På grunn av tidsbegrensninger har det ikke vært mulighet til å gjennomføre dypere intervjuer i denne oppgaven, da slike intervjuer hadde krevd mer tid enn hva vi har hatt tilgjengelig. Vi håper likevel at de svarene vi har kommet frem til vil være til nytte for andre som fatter interesse for risikostyring i oljebransjen

Hand hygiene practices during meal preparation-a ranking among ten European countries

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Mapping the Kitchen Microbiota in Five European Countries Reveals a Set of Core Bacteria across Countries, Kitchen Surfaces, and Cleaning Utensils

The residential kitchen is often heavily colonized by microbes originating from different sources, including food and human contact. Although a few studies have reported the bacterial composition in cleaning utensils and surface samples there is limited knowledge of the bacterial diversity across different sample types, households, and countries. As part of a large European study, we have identified the microbiota of 302 samples from cleaning utensils (sponges and cloths), kitchen surfaces (sinks, cutting boards, countertops, tap handles, and a pooled sample of other handles) in 74 households across 5 countries (France, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, and Romania). In total, 31 bacterial phyla were identified, with Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteria being the most abundant. Despite large variations in households with respect to kitchen standards, kitchen practices, cleaning regimes, and diet and considerable differences in bacterial diversity between samples, eight bacterial genera/families commonly associated with environmental sources were identified in most samples and defined as a core microbiota: Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Enhydrobacter, Enterobacteriaceae, Psychrobacter, Chryseobacterium, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus. These genera/families were also among the bacteria with the highest relative abundance across all samples, in addition to Yersiniaceae, Kocuria, Pantoea, and Streptococcus. Taxa associated with potential pathogens and fecal indicators were low in abundance but broadly distributed throughout the households. The microbial composition of surface samples indicated that the microbial composition on kitchen surfaces is more characteristic for the particular country than the object type, while the microbiota of cleaning utensils was similar across countries but differed between types (sponge or cloth).publishedVersio

Metoder for påvisning av Listeria i mat og produksjonsmiljø – Delrapport 1: Hurtigmetoder på markedet

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Survival potential of wild type cellulose deficient Salmonella from the feed industry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Biofilm has been shown to be one way for <it>Salmonella </it>to persist in the feed factory environment. Matrix components, such as fimbriae and cellulose, have been suggested to play an important role in the survival of <it>Salmonella </it>in the environment. Multicellular behaviour by <it>Salmonella </it>is often categorized according to colony morphology into rdar (red, dry and rough) expressing curli fimbriae and cellulose, bdar (brown, dry and rough) expressing curli fimbriae and pdar (pink, dry and rough) expressing cellulose.</p> <p>The aim of the study was to look into the distribution of morphotypes among feed and fish meal factory strains of <it>Salmonella</it>, with emphasis on potential differences between morphotypes with regards to survival in the feed factory environment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When screening a total of 148 <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Agona, <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Montevideo, <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Senftenberg and <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Typhimurium strains of feed factory, human clinical and reference collection origin, as many as 99% were able to express rough morphology (rdar or bdar). The dominant morphotype was rdar (74%), however as many as 55% of <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Agona and 19% of <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Senftenberg displayed the bdar morphology.</p> <p>Inconsistency in Calcofluor binding, indicating expression of cellulose, was found among 25% of all the strains tested, however <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Agona showed to be highly consistent in Calcofluor binding (98%).</p> <p>In biofilm, <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Agona strains with bdar mophology was found to be equally tolerant to disinfection treatment as strains with rdar morphotype. However, rdar morphology appeared to be favourable in long term survival in biofilm in a very dry environment.</p> <p>Chemical analysis showed no major differences in polysaccharide content between bdar and rdar strains. Our results indicate that cellulose is not a major component of the <it>Salmonella </it>biofilm matrix.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The bdar morphotype is common among <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Agona strains isolated from the factory environment. The rdar and the bdar strains were found to be equally tolerant to disinfectants, while the rdar strain was found to be more tolerant to long-term desiccation and nutrient depletion in biofilm than the bdar strain. Cellulose does not appear to be a major component of the <it>Salmonella </it>biofilm matrix.</p

Biofilm forming abilities of Salmonella are correlated with persistence in fish meal- and feed factories

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Feed contaminated with <it>Salmonella </it>spp. constitutes a risk of <it>Salmonella </it>infections in animals, and subsequently in the consumers of animal products. <it>Salmonella </it>are occasionally isolated from the feed factory environment and some clones of <it>Salmonella </it>persist in the factory environment for several years. One hypothesis is that biofilm formation facilitates persistence by protecting bacteria against environmental stress, e.g. disinfection. The aim of this study was to investigate the biofilm forming potential of <it>Salmonella </it>strains from feed- and fishmeal factories. The study included 111 <it>Salmonella </it>strains isolated from Norwegian feed and fish meal factories in the period 1991–2006 of serovar Agona, serovar Montevideo, serovar Senftenberg and serovar Typhimurium.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant differences were found between serovars regarding the abilities to form biofilm on polystyrene (microtiter plate assay) and in the air-liquid interface of nutrient broth (pellicle assay). Strains of serovar Agona and serovar Montevideo were good biofilm producers. In Norwegian factories, clones of these serovars have been observed to persist for several years. Most serovar Senftenberg clones appear to persist for a shorter period, and strains of this serovar were medium biofilm producers in our test systems. Strains of the serovar Typhimurium were relatively poor biofilm producers. <it>Salmonella </it>ser. Typhimurium clones have not been observed to persist even though this serovar is resident in Norwegian wild life. When classifying strains according to persistence or presumed non-persistence, persistent strains produced more biofilm than presumed non-persisting strains.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results indicate a correlation between persistence and biofilm formation which suggests that biofilm forming ability may be an important factor for persistence of <it>Salmonella </it>in the factory environment.</p

CO2 packaging increases shelf life through reduction of off-odor production by CO2 tolerant bacteria in addition to growth inhibition of the spoilage bacteriota

Optimized packaging conditions to improve the shelf life of chicken fillets is important to prevent food spoilage and food waste. Anaerobic packaging with CO2 or by vacuum packaging is commonly used to increase the shelf life of skinless chicken fillets, but the literature is inconsistent about the spoilage bacteriota. The aim of this work was to determine which bacterial genera that spoil raw chicken fillets packaged under two common packaging conditions and how the packaging gas itself affects the production of off odors for these genera. The spoilage potential of Pseudomonas, Carnobacterium, Hafnia, Serratia, Brochothrix and Shewanella isolated from spoiled chicken fillets was evaluated. Fresh chicken fillets were inoculated with mono- and multi genera strain cocktails (4 log CFU/cm2) and packaged with 100% N2 or 60% CO2/40% N2, stored at 4 °C, and bacterial numbers, bacteriota, gas in headspace and sensory profiles assessed. Additionally, the effect of CO2 on the production of off-odors from fillets inoculated with similar levels of Shewanella spp. or Brochothrix spp. was determined by both sensory profiling and measuring volatile organic components. All bacterial cocktails grew relatively well in chicken meat packed with 100% N2, while 60% CO2/40% N2 resulted in growth inhibition of all isolates compared to 100% N2. All genera except Serratia and Pseudomonas gave rise to off-odors after 11 days of storage in 100% N2. During storage in 60% CO2/40% N2, only fillets with Carnobacterium spp. and Brochothrix spp. showed significantly higher intensities of off-odors compared to the reference fillets. Shewanella spp. and Brochothrix spp. also exhibited significantly higher intensities of negative odor attributes during storage in 100% N2 compared to 60% CO2/40% N2, at a similar total bacterial count. Thus, CO2 improves shelf life not only by reduction of the growth of CO2 tolerant and sensitive bacteria, but also through inhibition of the production of off-odors.CO2 packaging increases shelf life through reduction of off-odor production by CO2 tolerant bacteria in addition to growth inhibition of the spoilage bacteriotapublishedVersio

Micro ecosystems from feed industry surfaces: a survival and biofilm study of Salmonella versus host resident flora strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The presence of <it>Salmonella </it>enterica serovars in feed ingredients, products and processing facilities is a well recognized problem worldwide. In Norwegian feed factories, strict control measures are implemented to avoid establishment and spreading of <it>Salmonella </it>throughout the processing chain. There is limited knowledge on the presence and survival of the resident microflora in feed production plants. Information on interactions between <it>Salmonella </it>and other bacteria in feed production plants and how they affect survival and biofilm formation of <it>Salmonella </it>is also limited. The aim of this study was to identify resident microbiota found in feed production environments, and to compare the survival of resident flora strains and <it>Salmonella </it>to stress factors typically found in feed processing environments. Moreover, the role of dominant resident flora strains in the biofilm development of <it>Salmonella </it>was determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Surface microflora characterization from two feed productions plants, by means of 16 S rDNA sequencing, revealed a wide diversity of bacteria. Survival, disinfection and biofilm formation experiments were conducted on selected dominant resident flora strains and <it>Salmonella</it>. Results showed higher survival properties by resident flora isolates for desiccation, and disinfection compared to <it>Salmonella </it>isolates. Dual-species biofilms favored <it>Salmonella </it>growth compared to <it>Salmonella </it>in mono-species biofilms, with biovolume increases of 2.8-fold and 3.2-fold in the presence of <it>Staphylococcus </it>and <it>Pseudomonas</it>, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results offer an overview of the microflora composition found in feed industry processing environments, their survival under relevant stresses and their potential effect on biofilm formation in the presence of <it>Salmonella</it>. Eliminating the establishment of resident flora isolates in feed industry surfaces is therefore of interest for impeding conditions for <it>Salmonella </it>colonization and growth on feed industry surfaces. In-depth investigations are still needed to determine whether resident flora has a definite role in the persistence of <it>Salmonella </it>in feed processing environments.</p

Pervasive Listeria monocytogenes is common in the Norwegian food system and is associated with increased prevalence of stress survival and resistance determinants

To investigate the diversity, distribution, persistence, and prevalence of stress survival and resistance genes of Listeria monocytogenes clones dominating in food processing environments in Norway, genome sequences from 769 L. monocytogenes isolates from food industry environments, foods, and raw materials (512 of which were sequenced in the present study) were subjected to whole-genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST), single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and comparative genomic analyses. The data set comprised isolates from nine meat and six salmon processing facilities in Norway collected over a period of three decades. The most prevalent clonal complex (CC) was CC121, found in 10 factories, followed by CC7, CC8, and CC9, found in 7 factories each. Overall, 72% of the isolates were classified as persistent, showing 20 or fewer wgMLST allelic differences toward an isolate found in the same factory in a different calendar year. Moreover, over half of the isolates (56%) showed this level of genetic similarity toward an isolate collected from a different food processing facility. These were designated as pervasive strains, defined as clusters with the same level of genetic similarity as persistent strains but isolated from different factories. The prevalence of genetic determinants associated with increased survival in food processing environments, including heavy metal and biocide resistance determinants, stress response genes, and inlA truncation mutations, showed a highly significant increase among pervasive isolates but not among persistent isolates. Furthermore, these genes were significantly more prevalent among the isolates from food processing environments compared to in isolates from natural and rural environments (n = 218) and clinical isolates (n = 111) from NorwaypublishedVersio