Washing hands and risk of cross-contamination during chicken preparation among domestic practitioners in five European countries

Nearly 40% foodborne outbreaks in the European Union are attributable to food practices in domestic homes that include handling and preparation of raw chicken. Hand washing is an important way to prevent cross-contamination with pathogens during chicken preparation. This study, which is part of the EU Horizon 2020 funded consortium SafeConsume, aimed at quantifying and understanding hand washing practices in three categories of households and five European countries. A quantitative survey (n = 1889) was combined with qualitative research, during which 75 participants from France, Norway, Portugal, Romania, and the United Kingdom were observed and interviewed. An original method for analysing video with “The Observer XT” software was developed to identify when and how risk arises. The quantitative survey and qualitative research data revealed that touching raw chicken was more frequent in Romania and Portugal. Practices to avoid touching raw chicken were declared and observed, although observations revealed that these practices were not always consistently followed. Only a third of the participants washed their hands with soap after handling raw chicken with important variations among countries (a majority in Norway and in the UK, a few in France and Portugal, none in Romania), in contrast to the results of the survey. Observations and interviews suggested that rinsing hands with water only and washing hands with soap are considered equivalent by many people. Barriers to washing hands due to improper equipment were mainly observed in Romania. Washing hands after touching raw chicken was motivated by food safety concerns for some participants in Norway and the UK, but not in France and Portugal, where it was motivated by unpleasant feelings on hands, or presented as a habit. Participants not washing their hands after touching the chicken did it after other actions they presumably perceived as unsafe (e.g. touching the bin, handling pets, and blowing the nose), indicating that they did not specifically consider touching raw chicken as risky. Knowledge, habits, and equipment with regard to chicken and hand washing differed among European countries, resulting in safe and risky practices

Consumer practices and prevalence of Campylobacter, Salmonella and norovirus in kitchens from six European countries

About 40% of foodborne infections are acquired in the home. The aim of the present study was to track contamination of pathogens during domestic food preparation and link the contamination to preparation practices. Research participants from 87 households in six European countries were observed and interviewed during shopping and preparation of a chicken and vegetable meal. The presence of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and norovirus on raw chicken, kitchen surfaces, cloths and sponges was determined. The prevalence of Campylobacter on raw chicken varied from 8.3% in Norway (NO) to 80% in France (FR) and Portugal (PT), with a mean prevalence of 57%. Campylobacter was found on half of the products that had been frozen and appeared to be less prevalent on chicken from supermarkets than other sources. Salmonella was found in 8.6% of raw chicken samples, exclusively from Hungary (HU). A relationship between observed practices and spread of pathogens to kitchen surfaces was found only for the use of cutting boards for chicken and/or vegetables. After food preparation, Campylobacter and Salmonella were isolated from 23% (samples derived from HU, RO, UK) and 8.7% (HU), respectively of cutting boards. Research participants in France and Portugal were more likely to buy products that fitted their recipe, with less need for using cutting boards. Using the same board and knife for vegetables after using it for chicken and without washing with detergent was common in Portugal and Romania, but not in the other countries. Contamination with Campylobacter to other kitchen surfaces or washing utensils were found in five households (UK, RO, PT). Rinsing chicken in sinks was common in three countries (PT, HU, RO), and washing vegetables in the same sink was also usual. Prevalence of Norovirus was low, with detection in one out of 451 samples. The participants' awareness of the risk posed by pathogens from raw chicken differed among the six countries, with higher awareness in Norway and the UK than the other countries studied. In conclusion, practices intended to avoid cross-contamination from chicken to kitchen surfaces and washing utensils are not established among consumers in all European countries. Nevertheless, cross-contamination events that disseminate infectious doses of pathogens seems to be rare, probably due to the relatively low levels of pathogens in food combined with food preferences. Food safety interventions must consider the national food culture, preferences, practices and the prevalence and levels of pathogens in food. Emphasis should be on providing and promoting chicken products with lower risk (prevalence of pathogens, ready-to-cook) and safe use of cutting boards

High sensitive multiresidue analysis of pharmaceuticals and antifungals in surface water using U-HPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap HRMS. Application to the Danube river basin on the Romanian territory

<p>The occurrence of 67 pharmaceutical and antifungal residues in the Danube river on the Romanian territory was studied by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and LC-Q Exactive Orbitrap high resolution MS in both full scan (FS) MS and targeted MS/MS modes. A single-laboratory validation procedure was carried out for the determination of 67 compounds in FSMS mode evaluating selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, precision and accuracy. The method showed satisfactory analytical performance. The evaluation of the recovery concluded that 75% of the compounds show recoveries between 85 and 115% and 10% of the compounds show recoveries between 85% and 65%. The level of detection was lower than 5ngl^-1 for 66% of the compounds, between 5 and 10ngl^-1 for 22% and between 10 and 25ngl^-1 for 14% of the compounds. The coefficients of determination R² were higher than 0.99 for 79% of the compounds, over a linearity range of 2.5-50ngl^-1. Targeted MS/MS analysis, performed in addition to the full scan acquisition was used for confirmatory purpose.Twenty samples of Danube water and three of the main tributaries were collected in May, July, August and October 2014. Analysis of the selected water samples revealed the occurrence of 23 compounds such as diclofenac, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, tylosin, indomethacin, ketoprofen, piroxicam, together with antifungals like thiabendazole, and carbendazim. Carbamazepine was detected in 17 samples, the maximum concentration being 40ngl^-1. The highest concentration reached was 166ngl^-1 for diclofenac.</p

Quantitative modelling to estimate the transfer of pharmaceuticals through the food production system

Use of pharmaceuticals in animal production may cause an indirect route of contamination of food products of animal origin. This study aimed to assess, through mathematical modelling, the transfer of pharmaceuticals from contaminated soil, through plant uptake, into the dairy food production chain. The scenarios, model parameters, and values refer to contaminants in emission slurry production, storage time, immission into soil, plant uptake, bioaccumulation in the animal's body, and transfer to meat and milk. Modelling results confirm the possibility of contamination of dairy cow's meat and milk due the ingestion of contaminated feed by the cattle. The estimated concentration of pharmaceutical residues obtained for meat ranged from 0 to 6 ng kg-1 for oxytetracycline, from 0.011 to 0.181 µg kg-1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 4.70 to 11.86 µg kg-1 for ketoconazole. The estimated concentrations for milk were: zero for oxytetracycline, lower than 40 ng L-1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 0.98 to 2.48 µg L-1 for ketoconazole. Results obtained for the three selected pharmaceuticals indicate a minor risk for human health. This study showed that supply chain modelling could be an effective tool in assessing the indirect contamination of feedstuff and animal products by residues of pharmaceuticals. The model can easily be adjusted to other contaminants and supply chain and, in this way, present a valuable tool to underpin decision making

Quantitative modelling to estimate the transfer of pharmaceuticals through the food production system

Use of pharmaceuticals in animal production may cause an indirect route of contamination of food products of animal origin. This study aimed to assess, through mathematical modelling, the transfer of pharmaceuticals from contaminated soil, through plant uptake, into the dairy food production chain. The scenarios, model parameters, and values refer to contaminants in emission slurry production, storage time, immission into soil, plant uptake, bioaccumulation in the animal's body, and transfer to meat and milk. Modelling results confirm the possibility of contamination of dairy cow's meat and milk due the ingestion of contaminated feed by the cattle. The estimated concentration of pharmaceutical residues obtained for meat ranged from 0 to 6 ng kg-1 for oxytetracycline, from 0.011 to 0.181 µg kg-1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 4.70 to 11.86 µg kg-1 for ketoconazole. The estimated concentrations for milk were: zero for oxytetracycline, lower than 40 ng L-1 for sulfamethoxazole, and from 0.98 to 2.48 µg L-1 for ketoconazole. Results obtained for the three selected pharmaceuticals indicate a minor risk for human health. This study showed that supply chain modelling could be an effective tool in assessing the indirect contamination of feedstuff and animal products by residues of pharmaceuticals. The model can easily be adjusted to other contaminants and supply chain and, in this way, present a valuable tool to underpin decision making

Organizational knowledge: Ethics and the importance of trust.

The aim of this paper is to grasp the ethical dilemmas that arise into organizational knowledge and the importance of trust for diminishing these dilemmas. Therefore, it focuses three key issues: knowledge management (concept; and, schools of thought); knowledge flowing models versus ethics (mental models; the Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization (SECI) model; and, Fiske’s relational model); and finally, the importance of trust as a possible answer. Plus, this paper suggests that the previous models only focus knowledge as continuum process and the result of this process omits ethical and moral dilemmas (obligation to share, personal property, personal worth, autonomy, dignity, privacy, etc.). These ethical dilemmas clearly weaken a knowledge management project, and how trust is a reliable answer. The absence of empirical work should be considered a limitation of this paper; however, does not diminish the importance for this debate