303 research outputs found
Application of a microbiological assessment scheme to evaluate microbiological performance in a catering setting
Evaluating food safety management performance in a food service establishment according a microbial assessment scheme
Assessing food safety management performance in a catering establishment according a microbiological assessment scheme
Challenges in food safety as part of food security : lessons learnt on food safety in a globalized world
Food safety should accomplish food and nutrition security. A key challenge to scale up food safety globally is to better leverage existing capacity and research working towards evidence-based decisions. At Ghent University since 2009 an annual 3-months international Intensive Training Program on Food Safety, Quality Assurance and Risk Analysis has been organized (www.itpfoodsafety.UGent.be). The trainees were asked to express their opinion on food safety concerns in their country and to select a case study to work on throughout the course. Main food safety issues had to do with bacterial pathogens, pesticide residues and mycotoxins which were challenged by lack of food safety knowledge and appropriate legislation and enforcement by government. They welcomed education and training on these topics in particular to elaborate on control measures including good hygienic practices, implementation of certified food safety management systems and setting of appropriate criteria. A number of topics are highlighted here in particular as these topics were shown to have a common ground of interest by several participants in several countries and throughout the years. These topics include among others safety of street foods, safe milk and cheese production, and risk assessment to control Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli in meat (and other foods). Although some recurring food safety issues could be identified, other topics are of particular concern in selected countries because of specific cultural appropriate eating habits. The world is changing fast. Problems change and the information stream is very intense. Leaders in food security should be aware about food safety as well, and will have to develop an attitude of continuous learning, critical thinking and be given the right tools("know how") to develop local solutions to address the emerging societal and environmental challenges to provide sufficient, safe, healthy, nutritious and sustainable produced food to the world's population
Evaluation of the food safety management system in a hospital food service operation toward Listeria monocytogenes
Exposure assessment to Salmonella by consumption of informally marketed milk and Gouda cheese in Musaner town, Rwanda
This study assesses the exposure to Salmonella by consumption of boiled milk and Gouda cheese in Musanze town, Rwanda. A consumer survey (n = 90) revealed that among milk buyers in milk shops, 40.0% were also buying boiled milk for their families resulting in consumption by 136 consumers, mainly adults aging between 19-29 years (32.3%). Among those interviewed consumers in households, 66.7% were re-boiling the milk and 33.3% were storing it refrigerated before consumption. Gouda cheese is usually sold in supermarkets belonging to the formal market. A cheese portion with a weight of 62.5 g is mainly consumed (80.0 %, n=370), and the weekly consumption frequency is most in practice (38.1%). A probabilistic exposure model was built up by taking into account prevalence data of Salmonella contamination in boiled milk and Gouda cheese in Rwanda, assumed concentration data of Salmonella, information of the milk chain gathered by observation, and collected consumption data and consumer behavior information. Finally, the risk of infection per day and per year were calculated for different categories of consumers. It appears that even though Salmonella is eliminated by milk boiling, the risk of infection still persists due to post-contamination in the milk shops (8.4% of consumers infected per year), but is decreased by additional boiling in households to 4.9% (children) and 4.6% (adults) per year. For cheese consumption, the risk of infection was lowered by multiple food safety interventions for cheese producers such as trainings on food hygiene and provision of modern equipments improving thus the situation from before to after 2012 by 30.0%% per year in case of adults. Those calculations demonstrate clearly that the additional efforts to reduce the occurrence of Salmonella in the Rwandan dairy chain will benefit the Rwandan population and decrease the burden of food borne disease
Quantitative risk assessment of acrylamide in Indonesian deep fried fritters as street food products
Acrylamide, a carcinogenic and neurotoxic compound, is a public health concern in fried food products. This paper demonstrated, for the first time, the exposure assessment and risk characterization of acrylamide through consumption of deep fried fritters, a popular snack of Indonesian population which commonly sold as street food. Acrylamide concentration data were collected from selected monitoring data and laboratory simulated researches, while the consumption data covered 263 respondents (adult, age 16-40). Exposure assessment was conducted with probabilistic approach and followed by Margin of Exposure (MoE) calculation. Estimated mean, median (P50) and P95 acrylamide intake were 14.85, 4.10 and 76.06 mu g/kg-bw/week, respectively. Thus, resulted in estimated 17.4% of population exceed the reported tolerable intake value (18.2 mu g/kg-bw/week). MoE derived from average exposure was 75, indicating significant risk and need of risk management action. Possible mitigation of 70% acrylamide level reduction was simulated and MoE shifted towards 248. Although the MoE was increased, the value was still lower than 10,000 indicating a public health concern. The risk assessment study can be a valuable input for risk managers such as food safety authorities across Indonesia or neighboring countries consuming fried street foods
Impact of food safety climate on food safety and hygiene output in two vegetable processing companies
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