Jacxsens, Liesbeth

Lahou, Evy

Uyttendaele, Mieke

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Assessing food safety management performance in a catering establishment according a microbiological assessment scheme.   Evy Lahou*, Liesbeth Jacxsens, Mieke Uyttendaele.  University of Ghent, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food preservation, Ghent, Belgium   Introduction Poor food safety management systems (FSMS) and an attendant increase of food safety risks in professional kitchens may impact on a significant number of consumers. A national food consumption survey in Belgium demonstrated that more than 35 percent of the population consumed more than 25 percent of their daily energy intake out of home.   Material and methods To measure the microbiological performance of a FSMS in a catering setting a microbiological assessment scheme (MAS) was developed. MAS supports in deciding on where and how to take a sample, at what frequency, how to conduct microbial analyses, how to interpret results and judge the outcome in perspective of the FSMS. A MAS in retail differs from a MAS in transformation by having many kinds of raw materials, intermediate products and end products. To avoid sampling on all products, a method to divide food products in critical sampling categories (CSC) was developed. This method will give a score to a food product based on epidemiological association, prevalence and the support of survival and/or growth of microorganisms. By using this method only food products with a high score (7, 8 or 9) should be sampled. The MAS was three times applied on three different production processes in a catering setting, namely on the preparation of a sandwich, the production of a hot meal starting with raw material and preparation out of packaging, the production of a hot meal starting with cooked products and preparation in original packaging.   Results and discussion The MAS for hot meals showed low numbers of microorganisms and small variations in microbial counts, which is a good indication of a well implemented food safety management system for those processes. The MAS for the preparation of a sandwich showed different results. There were high levels of microorganisms present at different locations. In this process there is still place for improvement of the food safety management system with special attention for hygiene of hands and equipment. The application of MAS in a catering setting can help to analyze the performance of a FSMS and to assign points of attention for a better performing FSMS.  References - Jacxsens, L., Kussaga, J., Luning, P., Van der Spiegel, M., Devlieghere, F., Uyttendaele, M. A microbial assessment scheme to measure microbial performance of food safety management systems. International Journal of Food Microbiology 2009;134(1-2):113-25. - Vandevijvere, S., Lachat, C., Kolsteren, P., Van Oyen, H. Eating out of home in Belgium: current situation and policy implications. British Journal of Nutrition 2009;102:921-8.    

Assessing food safety management performance in a catering establishment according a microbiological assessment scheme

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Assessing food safety management performance in a catering establishment according a microbiological assessment scheme

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography