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Food Control
Elsevier Science Ltd.
Food Control

Elsevier Science Ltd.

0956-7135

Food Control/Journal Food ControlSCIISTP
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    Foodborne botulism survey in Northern Italy from 2013 to 2020: Emerging risk or stable situation?

    Benevenia, RobertoArnaboldi, SaraDalzini, ElenaTodeschi, Silvia...
    7页
    查看更多>>摘要:Italy has one of the highest incidence rates of foodborne botulism in Europe. It is a neuro-paralytic disease caused by ingesting ready-formed botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) produced by some spore-forming clostridia. Due to its severity and epidemic potential, foodborne botulism is included in the list of notifiable diseases, and botulism cases are managed based on collaboration among public health authorities providing food inspections, formal analysis, and supporting hospitals in rapid diagnosis. This study aimed to conduct a survey for investigating BoNT-producing clostridia occurrences in foods from Northern Italy between 2013 and 2020. In total, 2187 food samples were provided by food business operators for their own control protocols, and the presence of BoNTproducing clostridia was investigated using multiplex real-time PCR. Sixteen food samples (0.73%, 95% CI 0.45-1.19) were found positive for the presence of BoNT-producing clostridia, including dairy products, fruit, vegetables, sauces, bakery products, gastronomic preparations, meat products, and spices and flavourings, with the target genes bont/A and bont/B being the only targets found in this survey. Collaboration with local hospitals was carried out through analysis of biological samples in suspected foodborne botulism cases using a mouse bioassay for identifying the toxin involved. When available, food residues related to the suspected cases were also analysed. Among 52 patients with suspected symptoms of foodborne botulism, 18 patients were confirmed to be positive, showing the presence of BoNT/A, BoNT/B, and BoNT/E. In five cases, food residues were identified, mostly as homemade products. Our study highlights that foodborne botulism continues to be a public health concern in both industrial processing and homemade products, stressing the importance of consumer education to avoid hazardous botulism outbreaks.

    Risk categorisation of poultry abattoirs on the basis of the current process hygiene criteria and indicator microorganisms

    Cegar, SimoKuruca, LjiljanaVidovic, BojanaAntic, Dragan...
    8页
    查看更多>>摘要:Risk categorisation of abattoirs based on their hygiene process performances has been suggested as an essential component of a risk-based meat safety assurance system. Two large-scale and two small-scale poultry abattoirs, located in Serbia, were subjects of the study aiming to investigate the usefulness of testing for pathogens and indicator microorganisms for abattoir risk categorisation. Fifty pooled samples of neck skins from chilled broiler carcasses were taken during two sampling days in each abattoir. The samples were tested for aerobic colony count (ACC), Enterobacteriaceae count (EBC), Escherichia coli count (ECC), Campylobacter count and Salmonella presence. Abattoirs were categorised as low, medium or high risk based on criteria set by regulation for pathogens and criteria set by authors for indicator microorganisms considering differences between poultry and red meat carcass processing. The two large abattoirs were categorised as medium risk, while the two small abattoirs were categorised as high risk regarding the three groups of indicator microorganisms. On the other hand, risk categorisation regarding the two pathogens was different - the two large and one of the small abattoirs were categorised as high risk, while the other small abattoir was categorised as low risk. No statistical association between the count of any indicator and Campylobacter count was found. Only a very weak statistical association was found between indicator counts and Salmonella presence on chilled carcasses. The level of indicators on chilled carcasses is mainly related to abattoir process hygiene, while the presence of pathogens on chilled carcasses could be considerably affected by their pre-abattoir status. Therefore, risk categorisation of poultry abattoirs based on ACC, EBC and/or ECC merits further investigation and standardisation.

    Antimicrobial photodynamic treatment (aPDT) as an innovative technology to control spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms in agri-food products: An updated review

    do Prado-Silva, LeonardoBrancini, Guilherme T. P.Braga, Gilberto U. L.Liao, Xinyu...
    18页
    查看更多>>摘要:Antimicrobial photodynamic treatment (aPDT) is a light-based method developed for the inactivation of microorganisms. With the emergence of antifungal- and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, aPDT has been suggested as a promising microbial control strategy. The treatment is based on a combination of visible light, a photosensitizer (PS), and molecular oxygen. Illuminating the PS with adequate light in the presence of oxygen will result in the generation of abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS), which further react with multiple targets within microbial cells and eventually cause cell death. The risk of resistance development is low due to the multitarget mode of action of aPDT. The efficiency of aPDT for microbial inactivation on foods can be affected by several factors such as type and characteristics of the PS, light source, food surface geometry, environmental aspects, and microbial characteristics. Although still a concept, the application of aPDT has gained rapid acceptance in many different agri-food products and associated processes, including food production, industrial processing, storage, distribution, and retail. Most of the in vitro aPDT studies have provided evidence of significant antimicrobial effects, including cases in which viability was reduced up to eight orders of magnitude. Strong antimicrobial performance of aPDT was also reported for studies involving variable food matrices, including fruit and vegetables, meat products, and milk. This review provides up-to-date information on advances in the application of aPDT in the agri-food sector, including suitable photosensitizers, sources of light, microbial inactivation efficiency, the role of food matrix composition, potentiation effects, inactivation mechanisms, and potential or prospective applications in the food industry and in other areas of agriculture. Even though the field of aPDT is advancing rapidly, future research should aim at some topics, including (1) the complete analysis of the effects of the treatment on food matrices, (2) the inactivation of currently-neglected food spoilage microorganisms, and (3) comprehensive field evaluation of aPDT for the control of plant diseases, all of which are necessary in order for the treatment to find widespread use in the agri-food sector.