Improving the identification of toxin-producing bacteria is a real challenge for understanding food poisoning episodes. As part of the Joint European “One Health” Program coordinated by ANSES, the agency coordinated a European collaborative project on the toxin-producing bacteria which cause the most collective foodborne illnesses (TIAC).
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens were at the heart of the European TOX-Detect project. This trio was not chosen at random: they are the toxin-producing bacteria most frequently involved in collective foodborne illness (TIAC) . According to the European Union Zoonoses Report One Health 2021 published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), bacterial toxins are the second leading cause of TIAC after bacteria themselves (17%). The project, coordinated by ANSES, began in 2018 for a duration of 3 years. It was funded by the One Health EJP program and involved the Institut Pasteur, INRAE as well as various partners from several European countries.
“ Depending on the bacterial strains, the expression of virulence factors is not the same. These virulence factors are, for example, the presence of adhesion proteins or the production of toxins, in food or in the body. They serve the bacteria to counter the defenses that the host could put up against them, explains Yacine Nia, co-coordinator of the project and deputy head of unit of the Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Clostridium (SBCL) unit, of the food safety laboratory. of Anses. The ability of the bacteria to harm the body will be higher or lower depending on these virulence factors. »
Most poisonings caused by the toxins of the three bacteria studied cause gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea). Deaths may occur, especially in the most sensitive subjects.
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