Molecular identification and microbiological evaluation of isolates from equipments and food contact surfaces in a hospital Food and Nutrition Unit.

S Pieniz,D F Rodrigues,R M Arndt,R Andreazza,F A O Camargo,K L Rodrigues,J F Mello,A Brandelli

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.175350

Abstract

The hygienic and sanitary control in Food and Nutrition Units (FNU) is considered a standard procedure to produce adequate meals and reduce the risk of foodborne diseases and hospital infections. This study aimed to evaluate the isolation and identification of bacteria from equipment and food contact surfaces in a hospital FNU as well as to evaluate the sanitary condition. Likewise, it was analyzed the adhesion of the microorganisms on polyethylene cutting boards. The presence of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms, yeasts, molds, coagulase-positive staphylococci, coliform and fecal coliform, and Escherichia coli were analyzed on eating tables, countertop surfaces and cutting boards used for meat or vegetable handling, and equipment such as microwaves and refrigerators. The molecular identification it was done by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The adhesion of the microorganisms (biofilm formation) on meat and vegetable cutting boards was also evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed high numbers of all microorganisms, except for E. coli , which was not observed in the samples. The molecular analysis identified species of the Enterobacteriaceae family and species of the Pseudomonadaceae family. Scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed bacterial adhesion on the cutting board surfaces. The results obtained in this study indicated that the hygienic conditions of surfaces like plastic cutting boards and equipment in this hospital FNU were inadequate. The achievement and application of standard operating procedures could positively help in the standardization of sanitary control, reducing the microbial contamination and providing a safe food to hospitalized patients.

Highlights

Good personal hygiene and good practices on sanitary handling at work are an essential part of any prevention program for food safety
Microbiological analyses were performed at the Laboratory of Food Microbiology at the College of Nutrition, Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL) and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was done at the Center of Electronic Microscopy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
For all surfaces (0.2 x colony forming units (CFU)/cm2) and equipments (1 x CFU/cm2) studied, the CFU values of mesophilic aerobic microorganisms were higher than that required by the APHA (2001)

Summary

Introduction

Good personal hygiene and good practices on sanitary handling at work are an essential part of any prevention program for food safety. It is important the handlers of food have the skills and knowledge to handle safely the food, because the human handling errors have been generally implicated in outbreaks of food poisoning (Gaungoo and Jeewon, 2013). Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and spore forming bacteria are the main bacteria causing foodborne illness in hospital (Steinbrecher et al, 2000; Jalalpour, 2013). Surfaces cleaned improperly promote food debris and, with the presence of water, it contributes to the development of bacterial biofilms, which may contain pathogenic microorganisms (Chmielewski and Frank, 2003)

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