Category Archives: Microbiological Risk Assessment

Research – UK to tackle Salmonella risks in raw pet food

Posted on January 17, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Pet Food Processing

The UK Food Safety Research Network, hosted by Quadram Institute, announced that six food safety projects will receive between £30,000 to £62,000 (roughly $36,544 USD to $73,089 USD) in funds. One of the projects aims to improve food safety of raw pet food formulas.

All six projects involve academic researchers collaborating with commercial companies and/or government agencies within the human and pet food sectors to establish solutions to common food safety issues.

The raw pet food project involves using bacteriophages to help decrease Salmonella contamination in raw pet food products. According to the Quadram Institute, raw pet foods are growing in popularity throughout the United Kingdom as pet parents seek non-processed diets to improve their pets’ health. However, raw pet foods can carry higher risk of contamination compared to their cooked counterparts.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bacteria, Bacteriophage, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Pet Food Salmonella, Pet Food Testing, raw pet food, Salmonella

Research – USA – Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) 2023–2026 Strategic Plan

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FSIS USDA

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for ensuring that domestic and imported meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. Consistent with its role, FSIS’ mission is to protect public health by preventing illness from meat, poultry, and egg products. That mission guides FSIS’ actions—from implementing and enforcing the Acts from which it gets its regulatory authority (Box 1), to incorporating data and science into Agency decision making, and to continuously improving its operations to ensure it functions in the most efficient and effective manner. It is through that mission and the actions guided by it that FSIS works toward its vision that everyone’s food is safe

Leave a comment

Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk

Thailand – Bangkok kids suffer food poisoning after eating free noodles for Children’s Day

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

The Thaiger

A group of Bangkok kids suffered food poisoning after eating free noodles on Friday for Children’s Day. Over 10 ambulances rushed to Wat Naknimit School on Soi Suksawat 14, Suksawat road, to help the 30 kids.

One female student said someone had distributed packs of instant noodles fried with crab sticks, sausages, eggs, and cabbage at a table. They later started to feel ill.

Leave a comment

Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk

Research – IFST Fact Sheet – Safe Heating of Food

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

IFST

This Food Science Fact Sheet is one of a series compiled by Institute of Food Science and Technology, providing clear, concise and scientifically reliable information on key food science topics for consumers.

Safe Heating of Food – Saving energy and staying safe

Leave a comment

Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, food safety training, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk

Research Breakthrough in fighting Legionnaires’ disease

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Eurekalert

A new study of domestic and hospital drinking water systems found Legionella in 41% of samples – with Flinders University researchers making a key connection between the pathogen’s co-existence with a ‘host’ microorganism in all samples tested.

The study found Legionella bacteria “infect the amoeba host and then once inside these hosts are protected from disinfection strategies,” says Flinders University Associate Professor of Environmental Health Harriet Whiley, a co-author of the new journal article in Water Research.

Researchers tested for Legionella and its likely amoebae hosts in 140 samples of water or biofilm (the slime found on showerheads and end of faucets) to understand how the potentially dangerous bacterium colonises and proliferates in both domestic and hospital plumbing and poses a threat to human health.

Leave a comment

Posted in Contaminated water, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Legionella, Legionnaires’ disease, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Water, water microbiology, Water Safety

Research – Protective Bacterial Culture Could Target Foodborne Superbugs

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Laboratory Equipment

Key points:

  • Researchers examined the ability of a protective culture—Hafnia alvei B16—in the prevention of infection by Salmonella.
  • According to the findings, Hafnia alvei B16 reduced Salmonella’s ability to invade human intestinal cells by nearly 90%.
  • The study also found differences in gene expression and how the two serovars responded to the protective culture in milk.

A new study published by University of Connecticut researchers builds upon our understanding of the ability of a protective culture called Hafnia alvei B16 to prevent infection by two Salmonella serovars, a grouping within the Salmonella enterica species. The serovars studied are common culprits in foodborne illness outbreaks and are resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Presently, most of the protective cultures on the market target gram-positive bacteria rather than gram-negative ones. gram-positive protective cultures are most effective against gram-positive pathogens, meaning there is a need for effective protective cultures against gram-negative pathogens, like E.coli and Salmonella.

In the study, published in Food Microbiology, the team found the Hafnia alvei worked differently than other protective cultures. Most cultures produce antimicrobial metabolites that stop the growth of competing bacteria. Meanwhile, when Hafnia alvei’s metabolites were added to a pathogenic culture, it didn’t stop their growth as expected. But, when the entire Hafnia alvei bacterium was in the presence of E. coli or Salmonella, it did. This told the team it was inhibiting the pathogen’s growth through some other mechanism.

D’Amico’s lab found that growth in the presence of Hafnia alvei decreased the expression of virulence genes in Salmonella and reduced the pathogen’s ability to invade human intestinal cells by nearly 90%.

The same study found differences in how the serovars responded to the protective culture in milk, which may impede the culture’s ability on a global level.

Leave a comment

Posted in Antimicrobials, Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Hafnia alvei, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella

France – Hepatitis A – Information

Posted on January 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Sante Publique

The hepatitis A virus is most often transmitted by the hands, or by ingesting food or water contaminated with feces. Its prevention is based on hygiene and vaccination.

Our missions

  • Monitor the epidemiological evolution of hepatitis A
  • Quickly detect clusters or outbreaks
  • Allow to adapt preventive measures 
  • Inform healthcare professionals

Videos, infographics, key figures, expert interviews… find here the latest news and key information on hepatitis A at the link above

Leave a comment

Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Virus, Hepatitis A, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Virus

Research – Countrywide multi-serotype outbreak of Salmonella Bovismorbificans ST142 and monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium ST34 associated with dried pork sausages in France, September to January 2021 

Posted on January 15, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Eurosurveillance

 is a major cause of gastroenteritis, with 180 million cases globally per year (9% of all infectious gastroenteritis cases) and is responsible for almost half (41%) of the deaths associated to the diarrhoeal disease.  shows the highest rates of demonstrated association to food-borne infection, i.e. 52% for non-typhoidal salmonellosis [1]. In 2019, 87,923 confirmed cases of salmonellosis in humans were reported in Europe, with a European Union (EU) notification rate of 20.0 cases per 100,000 population;  caused 26.6% of all food-borne outbreaks [2]. In France,  remains the main cause of food-borne illness–associated hospitalisation and death [3,4].

Three serotypes are responsible for the majority of  infections in Europe: Enteritidis, Typhimurium and its monophasic variant (,4,[5],12:i:-), together representing 70.3% of the 79,300 confirmed human cases with a known serotype in 2019. After poultry, pork is the most frequent source for salmonellosis in Europe (31%), and it has become the most frequent source for  serotype Typhimurium and its monophasic variant ,4,[5],12:i:-. In France, pork is suspected to be responsible for half of the salmonellosis cases reported every year [2,5,6].

 serotype Bovismorbificans is a relatively frequent food-borne pathogen (57 cases/year in France from 2012–20, and it was the 13th most frequently isolated serotype among human-identified  infections in Europe in 2019 [2]. Serotype Bovismorbificans is often identified in association with consumption of contaminated vegetables [7–11]. However, it has also been recently involved in outbreaks linked to horse and pork meat in Australia and France [12,13].

Leave a comment

Posted in food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, outbreak, Research

Research – Evaluation of pulsed light treatment for inactivation of Salmonella in packaged cherry tomato and impact on background microbiota and quality

Posted on January 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

Abstract

The microbial safety of produce continues to be a real concern. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of high intensity short time pulsed light (PL) application on survival of Salmonella in packaged cherry tomato. Treatment effects on reduction of native microbiota and quality were also evaluated. Stem scars of cherry tomatoes, inoculated with a three serotypes cocktail of Salmonella enterica, was treated with PL for up to 60 s. Polyethylene (PE) films of 25.4, 50.8 and 76.2 μm thickness were used for packaging treatment. A10 s treatment equivalent to a fluence dose of 10.5 J/cm2 was considered optimum. Both packaged and direct PL treatments provided >1 log reduction of the pathogen in 10 s (10.5 J/cm2). Direct treatment for 10 s resulted in 1.9 ± 0.17 log CFU/g reduction of Salmonella. For packaged tomatoes, log reductions decreased with increasing film thickness but not significantly (p < .05). Also, no significant difference in PL decontamination efficacy between packaged and unpackaged tomatoes was observed. Treatment significantly reduced the initial populations of aerobic mesophilic bacteria (3.6 ± 0.31 log), molds and yeast (2.43 ± 0.22 log) by >1 log, respectively. Packaged tomatoes were softer after treatment but not significantly. Storage time did not affect fruit firmness. No significant change in the visual appearance of fruits were observed after treatment and during 14 days of storage. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that high intensity short time PL treatment may be used to enhance microbial safety and reduce postprocessing contamination of packaged cherry tomato.

Leave a comment

Posted in Decontamination Microbial, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella

Research – Study on bacterial infection in older individuals

Posted on January 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

News Medical

The older population is prone to microbial infections, which can lead to death. Hence, it is important to understand why this group is vulnerable to microbial infection, especially bacterial infection. A recent Scientific Reports study linked data from two sources to understand the determining factors for microbial infection in the older population in the UK.

The prevalence of bacterial infection significantly increases with age. According to English surveillance data, the incidence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria is around ten times more in men who are between 45 and 64 years of age and around 100 times more in men above 75 years of age, compared to the younger age group, i.e., those between 15 and 44 years of age. Similar trends were observed with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria.

Currently, there is no clear explanation for why older individuals are more vulnerable to microbial infections. Nevertheless, environmental risk factors, such as nutrition, lifestyle, and housing, have been deemed possible contributing factors. In addition, the levels of C reactive proteins (CRP) could contribute to individual infection risk.

Serological studies have indicated that aging is associated with a gradual decrease in adaptive immunity, i.e., T-cell responses and antibody levels, which leads to an increase in pneumococcal pneumonia and herpes zoster infections.

In addition to radiological imaging, microbiological sampling (e.g., blood, urine, sputum, peritoneal fluid, and cerebrospinal fluid) can also be used to diagnose an infection by identifying the causal organism of the infection. In England, microbiological specimens are typically processed in hospital laboratories under the National Health Service.

About the Study

The current study used a large-scale population cohort, namely the UK Biobank (UKB), to understand the determining factors of bacterial infection and how it influences subsequent health-related problems.

UKB is a prospective cohort that contains information on around 500,000 men and women aged between 40 and 69 between 2006 and 2010. Initially, this cohort was designed to evaluate the environmental and genetic determinants that lead to common life-threatening diseases.

Public Health England (PHE) has established a second-generation surveillance system (SGSS) to monitor and improve public health. The SGSS dataset contains regularly updated information on human pathogens, such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, and other foodborne pathogens. Additionally, it contains antimicrobial test reports against important pathogens.

The current study demonstrated the possibility of linking UKB prospective cohort data with a national dataset containing information on microbial culture in England (SGSS).

Leave a comment

Posted in antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobials, Bacterial Infections, Campylobacter, E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Salmonella