Microbiological quality of raw and processed wild and cultured edible snails

BACKGROUNDAn increasing interest in snail farming in Greece and other European countries has been observed. Despite the fact that edible snails have been involved with problems of Salmonella spp. contamination, there are to our knowledge only limited studies regarding microbiological safety and hygiene of such products. Enumeration of microbial populations and presence/absence of Salmonella spp. in snail meat and intestines of wild Cornu aspersum, Helix lucorum and cultured Cornu aspersum snails from indoor/outdoor type farms was conducted. Furthermore, snail-processing steps were simulated in the laboratory and the population reduction in snail meat was determined. RESULTSMicrobial populations were higher in intestines than snail meat in almost all cases. Escherichia coli/coliforms and Enterococcus spp. populations were lower in the intestines and snail meat of cultured C. aspersum. Salmonella spp. were detected in the intestines and snail meat of wild snails only. The high levels of bacterial populations were considerably reduced after the appropriate processing. CONCLUSIONThe lower populations of E. coli/coliforms, Enterococcus spp. and especially the absence of Salmonella spp. in cultured snails show that the controlled conditions decrease the possibility of pathogen presence and contribute to food safety and public health. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industr

Aflatoxins occurrence through the food chain in Costa Rica: Applying the One Health approach to mycotoxin surveillance

Aflatoxins (AFs) are toxic metabolites produced by Aspergillus spp. and commonly found in crops, grains, feedstuff, and forages. Exposure to AFs has been associated with increased risk of liver cancer and growth retardation in humans, liver damage, immunosuppression, embryotoxicity in both animals and humans, and decreased milk, egg and meat production in animals. For the first time, the Costa Rican national mycotoxin surveillance programs for animal feed and food are considered as a whole, applying the One Health approach to the mycotoxin epidemiological research. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of AFs in cereals, nuts, grains intended for animal and human consumption in Costa Rica. In animal feed and feed ingredients, 970 samples were analyzed for AFs from 2010 to 2016 with an overall prevalence of positive samples of 24.0% (ranging from 0.01 to 290 μg kg−1). Only 2.5% of the samples failed to comply the regulation for total AFs (20 μg kg−1 feed). From 5493 samples of agricultural commodities intended for human consumption analyzed from 2003 to 2015, there was an overall prevalence of AF positive samples of 10.8% (ranging from 0.48 to 500 μg kg−1), and 2.8% did not comply the regulation for AFs (20 μg kg−1). In both feed and food, the highest AF prevalence corresponded to corn ingredients (27.8%) and white corn (38.6%), respectively. Among the commodities intended for human consumption, red beans had the highest aflatoxin concentrations (500 μg kg−1).UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Centro de Investigación en Nutrición Animal (CINA)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Centro para Investigaciones en Granos y Semillas (CIGRAS)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Facultad de Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Escuela de Zootecni