Category Archives: Online Food Safety

EFSA – Story map on Listeria monocytogenes

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

EFSA

Listeria bacteria are widespread in the environment and they are worldwide commonly found in soil and water, as well as in animal digestive tracts. There are more than 15  species  of bacteria in this genus, but human cases of Listeria infection are almost always caused by Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) while Listeria ivanovii is pathogenic in animals but rarely in humans. The other species are not considered to be pathogenic in humans or animals.

L. monocytogenes are able to form communities of bacteria called biofilms and are therefore resistant to a wide range of stresses. This capacity varies among  genotypes . They can tolerate acidic, dry and salty conditions, in the presence or absence of oxygen. Moreover, unlike most pathogenic bacteria, they are able to survive and multiply in refrigerated foods, making ready-to-eat foods of particular concern.

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Posted in Food Microbiology Research, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Listeria, Listeria innocua, Listeria invanovi, Listeria monocytogenes, listeriosis, Online Food Safety, Research

EFSA – Story map on Salmonella

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

EFSA

Salmonella is a genus of highly diverse bacteria that live in the intestinal tract of humans and animals and are widespread in the environment thanks to their ability to survive and adapt even under extreme conditions.

The more than 2,600 Salmonella  serovars  are divided into typhoidal and non-typhoidal serovars and all of them are potentially harmful and can cause diseases in humans with different level of severity. Typhoidal serovars (S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi) are highly adapted to the human host, which constitutes their exclusive reservoir, so they are transmittable only through human-to-human contact, causing a potentially life-threatening syndrome known as typhoid or paratyphoid fever. Their prevalence is very low in high-income countries, and the few European cases that occur generally involve people returning from trips to low- or middle-income countries.

Non-typhoidal serovars are zoonotic agents. They are transmittable from animals and foods to humans, but also through human-to-human contact, and they can cause various syndromes, most of which are gastrointestinal. Due to its adaptability, Salmonella is widely prevalent in the environment and can infect animals and contaminate food.

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Posted in Food Microbiology Research, Food Safety, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Online Food Safety, Research, Salmonella

EFSA – Story map on Campylobacter

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

EFSA

The most clinically relevant  species  are Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and C. coli, which are responsible for almost 95% of Campylobacter-associated diarrheal diseases. Other emerging species have been recently identified as human or animal pathogens. The involvement of some of these species in human disease is still unclear.

Campylobacter are a group of small, curved, gram-negative, non-spore-forming, motile bacteria with a single polar flagellum or bipolar flagella.

Thermotolerant Campylobacter species (e.g. C. jejuni, C. coli) are able to grow at temperatures between 37° and 42˚C but not below 30˚C, while strains of non-thermotolerant Campylobacter species (e.g. C. fetus subsp. venerealis, C. fetus subsp. fetus) may not grow at 42˚C. Generally, they are highly sensitive to oxygen, desiccation, osmotic stress, and low  pH , and they cannot grow in foods during handling or storage at room temperature in moderate climates. Freezing reduces the number of viable Campylobacter, but it must nevertheless be stressed that the bacteria can survive extended periods of refrigeration and freezing.

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Posted in Campylobacter, campylobacter coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Food Microbiology Research, Food Safety, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Online Food Safety, Research, Retailer Campylobacter Survey

UK- IFST – Safe Handling of Meat and Seafood

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

IFST

What is safe handling of meat and seafood?
When handling raw meat and proteins (including poultry and fish), it is important for consumers to take steps to ensure safe selection, handling, storage, preparation and cooking. Adopting good practices, at home can protect from foodborne illnesses caused
by organisms such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli (e.g. E. coli O157), Campylobacter, Listeria and Norovirus.

If meat is kept clean there will be little or no contamination whether biological, physical or
chemical. Safe meat handling practices are necessary because, even though cooking may destroy bacteria, this is not the case for toxins if they have been formed.

See the IFST Factsheet at the Link Above

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Posted in Food Safety, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Online Food Safety, Uncategorized

USA – FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness Co-Host Webinar on Food Safety Culture: Storytelling to Shape, Reinforce and Inspire

Posted on November 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FDA

Today, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the ninth in the ongoing series of webinars exploring food safety culture will take place on December 6, 2023, from 12 noon to 1:00 pm ET. The webinar series Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety is in partnership with Stop Foodborne IllnessExternal Link Disclaimer, a non-profit public health organization.

This webinar “Food Safety Culture: Storytelling to Shape, Reinforce, and Inspire” will focus on the importance of storytelling in building and reinforcing a strong food safety culture.

Guest speakers on December 6, include:

  • Jeff Almer, Constituent Food Safety Advocate, Stop Foodborne Illness
  • Jorge Hernandez, Quality Assurance Vice President, The Wendy’s Company
  • Lone Jespersen, Principal and Founder, Cultivate SA
  • Conrad Choiniere, PhD, Director, Office of Analytics and Outreach, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA

The webinar series engages experts from the public and private sectors in a collaborative exchange of ideas and experiences related to the importance of a robust food safety culture in helping to ensure safe food production.

Food safety culture is one of the core elements in the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint, which states that dramatic improvements in reducing the burden of foodborne illness cannot be made without doing more to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and, most importantly, the behaviors of people and the actions of organizations.

Register Here!External Link Disclaimer

To learn more about this webinar series and to listen to recordings, visit Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety.

For More Information

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Posted in FDA, Food Safety, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Online Food Safety

Hong Kong – Microbiological Quality of Non-hot Served Dishes with Chicken Meat

Posted on September 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

CFS

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Posted in Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, Online Food Safety

Information – Safer Food Choices for Children Under 5 Years Old

Posted on August 30, 2023 by | Leave a comment

CDC

Young children have a higher risk of food poisoning. Their immune systems are still developing, so their bodies aren’t able to fight germs and sickness as well as adults. Food poisoning can be particularly dangerous for them because it can lead to diarrhea and dehydration.

To prevent food poisoning, some foods are safer choices than others. That’s because some foods—such as undercooked meat and eggs, unwashed fruits and vegetables, and unpasteurized milk — are more often associated with foodborne illnesses. Use the table in the link above as a guide to safer food choices.

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Posted in Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Safety Management, food safety training, Online Food Safety

Research – Tackle Foodborne Illness When Ordering Takeout or Delivered Foods

Posted on February 8, 2023 by | Leave a comment

FSIS USDA

The Super Bowl is the biggest and most anticipated sporting event of the year. Friends and families “huddle” and consume foods and snacks for the duration of the game while cheering for their favorite team. This iconic annual event is often celebrated by ordering takeout and delivered foods, which if left out too long, can cause foodborne illness.

Leaving food out at room temperature is a big food safety penalty. Bacteria that can cause foodborne illness will start to grow to dangerous levels in the range of temperatures between 40 F and 140 F when left out for over two hours or one hour if above 90 F. This range of temperatures is called the Danger Zone.

To avoid foodborne illness during the big game, follow this game plan:

  • Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Cold foods should be kept under 40 F on the buffet table by nesting serving dishes of food in bowls of ice. Hot foods should be kept above 140 F. A preheated oven, chafing dishes, preheated warming trays or slow cookers can be used to keep food hot.
  • Don’t serve all food at once. Use small platters and replace them often with fresh refrigerated platters of food, rather than adding fresh food to a serving dish already on the table. Hot foods should be reheated to 165 F as measured with a food thermometer. When reheating in the microwave, cover the food for even heating. Check the temperature of the food in several places with a food thermometer, as some microwaved foods can have cold spots.

For more information, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or email MPHotline@usda.gov to reach a food safety expert or chat live at ask.usda.gov from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

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

Research – Evaluating the food safety risk of online food delivery during the pandemic

Posted on February 3, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

World Universities Network researchers have investigated the food safety risk of online food delivery platforms against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic increase in demand for online food delivery services for everything, from groceries to cooked meals around the world, including in the United States. The food safety risk of so much food being delivered this way has gone largely unexplored.

Researchers in Taiwan, however, have investigated the food safety literacy of both consumers and proprietors of online food delivery services during the pandemic in Taiwan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the enforcement of lockdowns and shelter-in-place policies across the world. As a consequence, there was also an increase in the use of online shopping and online food delivery services.

The use of online food delivery services was so widespread, that in Taiwan, about 56 percent of the population has used these services during the pandemic. From fruits and vegetables to snacks and cooked meals, food delivery services offer a wide range of foods to consumers. But along with the improved convenience and access to food, these foods can also prove a risk in case they are undercooked, or if appropriate hygiene and temperature control is not maintained during their transport and preparation.

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Posted in COVID-19, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Safety, Food Safety Management, Food Safety Regulations, food safety training, microbial contamination, Microbial growth, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Microbiology Risk, Online Food Safety