Abstract
Abstract The identification of Listeria spp. in food handling areas is of great concern to health surveillance agencies, and their control is often hampered by the ability of the bacteria to grow and maintain themselves even under adverse conditions. The present study aimed to isolate and identify Listeria spp. in the food handling areas of 10 retail food stores in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Eighty-six swab samples were collected from equipment, utensils and surfaces used for processing ready-to-eat meat products. The Dry and Wet Swabbing Methods (3M™ Quick Swabs) and 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates were used to identify Listeria spp. Contamination by Listeria monocytogenes was confirmed by the Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). The hygienic and sanitary conditions of the food handling areas of each store were also assessed. Listeria spp. was isolated in eight stores (80%). Of the 86 swab samples analyzed, 27 (31.2%) [confidence interval 21.81% to 42.30%] were positive for Listeria spp. and only one (3.7%) was confirmed as Listeria monocytogenes. The main contamination sites were the floor (50.0%), the plastic cutting board (42.9%) and the knife (40.0%). None of the hygienic and sanitary conditions assessed in the present study were associated with contamination by Listeria spp. (p = 0.700). It was concluded that Listeria spp. was widely distributed in the retail food stores studied, being a possible risk factor for public health.
Highlights
Listeria monocytogenes is a microorganism that requires attention in food handling areas due to some peculiarities that facilitate its occurrence even under adverse conditions, and the application of sanitizers is recommended by sanitary regulations (BRASIL, 2001, 2009)
In most of the stores, hand hygiene was inadequately carried out, gloves were improperly used and food-handling utensils were absent, which may increase the risk of contamination by Listeria spp
Similar results have been found in other Brazilian states (SILVA et al, 2010; CESAR et al, 2011; FERRONATTO et al, 2012; YAMAGUCHI et al, 2013), and the different results obtained in the aforementioned studies may have been related to both the sampling sites and the sampling and diagnostic methods used in each study
Summary
Listeria monocytogenes is a microorganism that requires attention in food handling areas due to some peculiarities that facilitate its occurrence even under adverse conditions, and the application of sanitizers is recommended by sanitary regulations (BRASIL, 2001, 2009). The peculiarities include biotransference and the formation of biofilms, both in the food and on other non-nutritive surfaces which promote adhesion and protection to the microorganism. This species requires a minimum of nutrients for growth; it is capable of multiplying under refrigeration temperatures, at low pH values and high salt concentrations (LEONG et al, 2014; TEIXEIRA et al, 2016). In Switzerland, Blatter et al (2010) detected L. monocytogenes in only 3.5% (70/2028) of the samples collected from handling areas of ready-to-eat food. In Italy, 44.9% (19/43) of the samples from food processing areas were contaminated by L. monocytogenes (PARISI et al, 2013). The concern of industries and regulatory agencies about contamination by Listeria spp. has increased, especially due to antimicrobial resistant strains, which pose a potential risk to human health (GELBÍČOVÁ et al, 2016; SU et al, 2016)
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