Prevention Of Foodborne Diseases Research Articles

A highly sensitive aptamer–antibody birecognized ECL sensing platform based on the cascaded reaction between CeO2@mrGO and Co-SAC@NC for E. coli O157:H7 in untreated milk

Rapid, sensitive and specific detection of foodborne pathogens is of great significance to the early warning and prevention of foodborne diseases and environmental pollution. Here, an electrochemiluminescent (ECL) biosensor with the cascaded reaction between two nanozymes was developed for the detection of E. coli O157:H7. Cobalt single-atom catalyst (Co-SAC@NC) with oxidase (OD) -like activity, as a co-reaction accelerator of O2, catalyzed oxygen to reactive oxygen species (ROSs) and boosted ECL of luminol-O2 system. Another nanozyme CeO2@mrGO with excellent phosphatase-like activity by the introduction of Fe was use to label Ab. CeO2@mrGO captured E. coli O157:H7, and then combined with Ap on the electrode surface through the affinity of aptamer and antibody to form a sandwich structure on the gold electrode (CeO2@mrGO-Ab/E. coli O157:H7/Ap-AuE). CeO2@mrGO converted AAP into AA, which consumed ROS and quenched ECL emission of luminol-O2 system. As a consequence, this ECL sensor had a linear response range of 17–1.7 × 105 CFU/mL with LOD of 2.78 CFU/mL. This aptamer-antibody birecognized system was able to be applied to assay E. coli O157:H7 in untreated contaminated milk samples with satisfactory results.

Target-inhibited MCOF-Apt-AuNPs self-assembly for multicolor colorimetric detection of Salmonella Typhimurium

Pathogens detection is a crucial measure in the prevention of foodborne diseases. This study developed a novel multicolor colorimetric assay to visually detect Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium), by utilizing the etching process of gold nanorods (AuNRs) with TMB2+. The strategy involved the construction of nanozyme by assembling magnetic covalent organic framework (MCOF) with aptamer-conjugated AuNPs (Apt-AuNPs), exhibiting remarkable peroxidase-like activity to catalyze the oxidation of TMB/H2O2 and inducing the etching of AuNRs. The presence of S. Typhimurium could inhibit this process, resulting in the generation of vivid colors. The multicolor colorimetric assay could specifically determine S. Typhimurium from 102 to 108 CFU mL−1 in 60 min with visual detection limit of 102 CFU mL−1, and instrumental detection limit of 2.3 CFU mL−1. Moreover, detecting S. Typhimurium in chicken, milk, pork and lettuce samples has shown promise in practical applications.

Surveillance of household foodborne disease outbreaks in Zhejiang Province, China, 2010–2022

BackgroundFoodborne diseases are a growing public health concern worldwide and households are a common setting. This study aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of household foodborne disease outbreaks in Zhejiang Province and propose targeted prevention and control measures. MethodsDescriptive statistical methods were used to analyze household foodborne disease outbreak data collected from the Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Surveillance System in Zhejiang Province from 2010 to 2022. ResultsHousehold foodborne disease outbreaks showed an upward trend during the study period (Cox-Staurt trend test, p = 0.01563 < 0.05). These outbreaks mainly occurred from June to September, with 62.08% (352/567) of all reported outbreaks. The number of reported outbreaks varied in 11 prefectures, with a maximum of 100 and a minimum of only 7. Household foodborne disease outbreaks had a wide spectrum of etiologic factors. Mushroom toxins accounted for the largest proportion of all etiologies (43.39 %) and caused the highest proportion of hospitalization (54.18%) and death (78.26%). Such outbreaks are caused by accidently eating wild poisonous mushrooms. Bacterial infection (16.23%) was the second most common etiology, with Salmonella spp. and Vibrio parahaemolyticus being the primary pathogens. These outbreaks were caused by improper storage, improper processing or a combination of factors, and the foods involved were mainly aquatic animals, eggs and cooked meat. Other identified etiologies included plant toxins (9.52%), chemicals (7.23%), animal toxins (3.70%), and viruses (1.76%). Among the above-mentioned etiologies, mushroom toxins, bacteria, and animal toxins had seasonal characteristics. Analysis of regions and etiologies revealed that the proportion of various etiologies was different in 11 prefectures. Wild mushrooms (43.39%), aquatic animals (9.88%), and toxic plants (8.47%) were the top three foods involved in these outbreaks. The most common factors contributing to household foodborne disease outbreaks were inedibility and misuse (59.08%), followed by multiple factors (7.58%), improper storage (7.41%), and improper processing (7.41%). ConclusionsHousehold foodborne disease outbreaks were closely related to the lack of knowledge regarding foodborne disease prevention. Therefore, public health agencies should strengthen residents’ surveillance and health education to improve food safety awareness and effectively reduce foodborne diseases in households. In addition, timely publicity and early warning by relevant government departments, the introduction of standards to control the contamination of pathogenic bacteria in raw materials, and strengthened supervision of the sale of substances that may cause health hazards, such as poisonous mushrooms and nitrites, will also help reduce such outbreaks.

Multi-functional nanozyme-based colorimetric, fluorescence dual-mode assay for Salmonella typhimurium detection in milk.

Rapid and high-sensitive Salmonella detection in milk is important for preventing foodborne disease eruption. To overcome the influence of the complex ingredients in milk on the sensitive detection of Salmonella, a dual-signal reporter red fluorescence nanosphere (RNs)-Pt was designed by combining RNs and Pt nanoparticles. After being equipped with antibodies, the immune RNs-Pt (IRNs-Pt) provide an ultra-strong fluorescence signal when excited by UV light. With the assistance of the H2O2/TMB system, a visible color change appeared that was attributed to the strong peroxidase-like catalytic activity derived from Pt nanoparticles. The IRNs-Pt in conjunction with immune magnetic beads can realize that Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhi) was captured, labeled, and separated effectively from untreated reduced-fat pure milk samples. Under the optimal experimental conditions, with the assay, as low as 50 CFU S. typhi can be converted to detectable fluorescence and absorbance signals within 2 h, suggesting the feasibility of practical application of the assay. Meanwhile, dual-signal modes of quantitative detection were realized. For fluorescence signal detection(emission at 615 nm), the linear correlation between signal intensity and the concentration of S. typhi was Y = 83C-3321 (R2 = 0.9941), ranging from 103 to 105 CFU/mL, while for colorimetric detection(absorbamce at 450 nm), the relationship between signal intensity and the concentration of S. typhi was Y = 2.9logC-10.2 (R2 = 0.9875), ranging from 5 × 103 to 105 CFU/mL. For suspect food contamination by foodborne pathogens, this dual-mode signal readout assay is promising for achieving the aim of convenient preliminary screening and accurate quantification simultaneously.

Systematic foodborne disease prevention and risk management based on infection mechanisms

Systematic foodborne disease prevention and risk management based on infection mechanisms

Insights into the antimicrobial efficacy of Coleus aromaticus essential oil against food-borne microbes: Biochemical and molecular simulation approaches

The study reported the antimicrobial efficacy of chemically characterized Coleus aromaticus essential oil (CEO) against food-borne bacteria, molds (Aspergillus flavus), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and explored its mechanism of action using biochemical and molecular simulation approaches. The chemical profile of CEO was explored by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, which revealed thymol (46.0%) as the major compound. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of CEO for bacterial species Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus, and Shigella flexneri was found to be 0.9 μl/ml, 0.7 μl/ml, 0.16 μl/ml, and 0.12 μl/ml respectively. The MIC value for A. flavus and AFB1 contamination was 0.6 μl/ml. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of CEO was recorded with IC50 0.32 μl/ml. Biochemical and computational approaches (docking and dynamics simulation) have been performed to explore the multi-faceted antimicrobial inhibitory effects of CEO at the molecular level, which shows the impairment in membrane functioning, leakage of cellular contents, release of 260-nm absorbing materials, antioxidative defense, carbon catabolism and vital genes (7AP3, Nor1, Omt1, and Vbs). The findings indicated that CEO could be used as natural antimicrobial agents against food-spoilage bacteria, A. flavus and AFB1 contamination to extend the shelf-life of food product and prevention of food-borne diseases.

Foodborne disease and food safety among college students in pandemic situation

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 6,205 cases of food poisoning recorded by the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) Indonesia. Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the profile, knowledge, attitude, and practice of food safety among college students in a pandemic situation. Method: This research is a cross-sectional study conducted online at Universitas Jember, Indonesia, in October 2020. The sample used was (n=187, college students whose profiles, knowledge, attitude and practice were analysed with a chi-square test and Spearman rank (α = 0.05). Result: The respondents were female (86.1%) and living in a dormitory (90.9%). The knowledge was medium, the attitude was neutral, and the practice was average. There was a significant correlation between profile and knowledge, attitude, and practice (p &lt; 0.05); knowledge and attitude; knowledge and practice; attitude and practice in food safety among college students. (p &lt; 0.05; α = 0.05). Conclusion: The college curriculum should be improved in knowledge, attitude and practice to prevent foodborne disease, especially in the pandemic situation.

Biogenic silver nanoparticles and cinnamaldehyde as an effective sanitizer for fresh sweet grape tomatoes.

This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of cinnamaldehyde (CIN) and biogenic silver nanoparticles (BioAgNP), alone and in combination, against Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. Their sanitation activities on fresh sweet grape tomatoes were also evaluated. CIN and BioAgNP inhibited the growth of the tested bacteria, and at low concentrations, their combinations presented a synergistic effect. In the sanitization of fresh sweet grape tomatoes, CIN (156µg/mL) combined with BioAgNP (31.25µM) at subinhibitory concentrations inhibited the growth of E. coli after only 5min of contact. Exposed samples showed no growth of E. coli during their shelf life. The combination of these compounds did not change significantly (p > 0.05) the physicochemical properties of sweet grape tomatoes and showed that CIN combined with BioAgNP could represent an effective method for decontaminating fruits and vegetables. This combination has great potential for application in the prevention of foodborne diseases.

Impact of FOODAlyzer© application on knowledge, attitude, and perception towards selecting commercial eateries to prevent foodborne disease

Impact of FOODAlyzer© application on knowledge, attitude, and perception towards selecting commercial eateries to prevent foodborne disease

Organizational factors and safe food handling by food service workers: a scoping review protocol.

The objective of this scoping review is to explore and map the scientific evidence on organizational factors related to safe food handling by food service workers to prevent foodborne disease. According to the World Health Organization, more than 600 million people become ill each year due to foodborne diseases. Improper food handling is one of the main causes of such diseases. Despite the growing literature on safe food handling, many studies focus on assessing and discussing cognitive variables, such as food safety knowledge. This indicates a need to study this topic from a new perspective, for example, through its organizational factors. The review will include quantitative and qualitative studies on food handlers (ie, individuals who have direct or indirect contact with food during their professional duties) working in food services (ie, institutional or commercial establishments). Food handlers involved in industrial processing, planting, harvesting, or working on the street (street food) or in the home will be excluded. Eligible studies will explore the organizational factors of safe food handling that influence employee behavior regarding food production. This review will use the JBI methodology for scoping reviews to identify published and unpublished studies in all languages, with no date limit. The following databases will be searched: Scopus, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Food Science and Technology Abstracts. A structured search for gray literature will also be conducted. Titles, abstracts, and full texts of articles will be screened by 2 independent reviewers for inclusion, with discrepancies resolved by a third reviewer. Data will be extracted using a standardized form. The results will be summarized in tabular or graphical format, accompanied by a narrative summary. https://osf.io/hxfe4.

Vending environment and hygiene practices of street food vendors in an out of campus food environment in Kenya

Background: Street foods (SF) are ready-to-eat foods and the safety and hygiene practices of street food vendors (SFVs) are important in the prevention of food-borne diseases (FBD). This study assessed the food handling practices and vending environments of SFVs operating outside a public university (Chuka University) in Ndagani, Kenya. Methods: The study used an observational cross-sectional design where SFVs were observed during data collection. Census sampling was used to recruit 100 SFVs in Ndagani, Kenya. The collected data were summarized using frequencies and percentages. Chi square and regression analysis were used to assess the association and relationship between the SFVs’ demographic characteristic (sex) and their food handling practices and vending environment. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: Of the 100 SFVS who participated in the study 87% (n=87) were female. Only 10% (n=10) of the SFVs were vending in a sanitary environment while 88% (n=88) of the SFVs had sub-optimal food handling practices. There was an association between the SFVs sex and vending environment (p=0.003) and their food handling practices (p=0.008). Compared to male SVFs, female SFVs were 10.1 times more likely to vend in an unsanitary environment (OR: 10.1; C.I, 2.41-42.60, p=0.002) and 7.1 times more likely to have sub-optimal food handling practices (OR: 7.1; C.I, 1.84-27.79, p=0.005). Conclusions: The majority of SFVs are working in unsanitary environments and not handling SFs safely and hygienically. SFVs need training on food safety to prevent an outbreak of FBDs within university community.

Insight into a Target-Induced Photocurrent-Polarity-Switching Photoelectrochemical Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Sensitive, portable methods of detection for foodborne pathogens hold great significance for the early warning and prevention of foodborne diseases and environmental pollution. Restricted by a complicated matrix and limited signaling strategies, developing a ready-to-use sensing platform with ultrahigh sensitivity remains challenging. In this work, near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive AgBiS2 nanoflowers (NFs) and Cu2O nanocubes (NCs) were introduced to construct a novel target-induced photocurrent-polarity-switchable system and verified for the development of an all-in-one, ready-to-use photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor. NIR-responsive n-type AgBiS2 NFs and p-type Cu2O NCs producing anodic and cathodic photocurrents were conjugated with monoclonal (MAb1) and polyclonal antibodies (PAb2), respectively. Using a sandwich-type immunocomplex bridged by Escherichia coli O157:H7, an efficient photocurrent-polarity-switching PEC system was formed on a paper-based working electrode (PWE). Owing to the spatial separation of the photogenerated carriers and the elimination of false-positive/negative signals by the polarity-switchable photocurrent, the proposed NIR PEC immunoassay for E. coli O157:H7 exhibits a considerably low detection limit of 8 colony-forming units/milliliter (CFU/mL) with a linear range from 25 to 5 × 107 CFU/mL. The platform includes a PWE with an automatic cleaning function and a portable PEC analyzer with smartphone-compatible Bluetooth capability, thus achieving point-of-care testing of E. coli O157:H7. The sensor was applied to the analysis of pork samples artificially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, and the detection results were in good agreement with the plate counting method, a gold standard in the field. This work aimed to investigate the photoelectric activity of the NIR-responsive p/n-type composites and to provide a new signal-reversal route for the construction of an all-in-one ready-to-use PEC immunosensor for the detection of low-concentration biomolecules.

A Cross-Sectional Study to Asses Knowledge and Food Hygiene Practices among Food Handlers in Food Establishments

Introduction: Food safety is one of the important issue in public. Food handlers with poor personal hygiene and lack of awareness of important issues in preventing food borne diseases, working in food establishments could be potential sources of infections of many intestinal helminthes of protozoa and estrogenic pathogens. Aims: The objective of the study was to procure information about various food handling practices and spread awareness about the prevention of food borne diseases. Methods: An organization based cross-sectional study. All the food handlers in given area like sevlal, Morrapur, Thanda, Baddenpally, Ankusapur and Narsimbulapally were contacted. A total of 172 food handlers in food establishments were interviewed within the stipulated time. The required data is obtained by per designed questionnaire method; the data collection involves the following criteria– Food handling practices, environmental and personal hygiene, knowledge of food hygiene and safety and also their attitude,measures taken for controlling and preventing of food borne illnesses, incidence of food borne diseases. Proportions and Chi square test were used for analysis of the data. Results: This Study found that maximum food handlers were not certified in food training i.e. 82.5%, 27.9% of food handlers reported that they heard about food borne diseases. Study found that food can be a source of infection if not handled properly. Awareness or knowledge was better in females 36.8% compared to males 25.3%. The Majority of food handlers acquired that knowledge through mass media. Study found overall the attitude of food handlers towards handling of food was satisfactory. In the present study, all practices related to food hygiene were very well followed by majority of the food handlers in the study. Conclusions: The overall knowledge, attitude and practices of the food handlers were very good and above the average

Systematic Review and Critical Evaluation of Quality of Clinical Practice Guidelines on Nutrition in Pregnancy.

To report the quality and clinical heterogeneity of the published clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on nutrition in pregnancy. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science databases were searched. The following aspects related to nutrition in pregnancy were addressed: specific requirements during pregnancy, description of a balanced diet, weight gain, prevention of food-borne, nutrition in peculiar sub-groups of women, and maternal or perinatal outcomes. The assessment of the risk of bias and quality assessment of the included CPGs were performed using "The Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch and Evaluation (AGREE II)" tool divided in six quality domains: scope and purpose, stakeholder involvement, rigor of development, clarity of presentation, applicability, editorial independence. Mean ± standard deviation (SD) was used to summarize the scores across all the guidelines per domain. The quality of each guideline was computed using the scoring system proposed by Amer et al. A cut-off of &gt;60% was sued to define a CGP as recommended. Eighteen CPGs were included. There was a substantial heterogeneity in the recommended dose for vitamins, folic acid, and micronutrient intake during pregnancy among the different published CPGs. 27.8% (5/18) of the CPGs recommended a daily intake of folic acid of 200 mcg, 38.8% (7/18) 400 mcg, 16.7% (3/18) 600 mcg while the remaining CPGs suggested dose between 400 and 600-800 mc per day. Adequate maternal hydration was advocated in the large majority of included CPGs, but a specific amount of water intake was not reported in 83.3% (15/18) cases. There was also significant heterogeneity in various other aspects of nutrition recommendation among the different CPGs, including gestational weight gain (55.5%), prevention of food-borne diseases in pregnancy (72.2%), nutrition in particular groups of pregnant women (83.3%), maternal and perinatal outcomes (72.2%). The AGREE II standardized domain scores for the first overall assessment (OA1) had a mean of 65% but only half scored more than 60%. The published CPGs on nutrition in pregnancy show an overall good methodology, but also a substantial heterogeneity as regard as different major aspects on nutrition in pregnancy.

Riders’ Food Safety Knowledge and Practices: Do they Comply

The food service industry has evolved recently to cope with global changes and demands. Food riders have been recruited to keep the food business significant in an area with food safety concerns in mind. Although food riders don't need to take food safety and hygiene courses, undoubtedly it is their responsibility to prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Therefore, this study was initiated to identify food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among 84 food riders in Shah Alam using a quantitative correlational study (Pearson Correlation Coefficient) while the mediating effect was investigated using the Hayes PROCESS. The results showed that the attitude of the food rider mediates the relationship between knowledge and practice of food safety. Research findings from 84 respondents, consisting of men (82.1%), and women (17.9%). Their ages ranged from 18 to 27 years (64.3%). In addition, 70 people (83.3%) of them have higher education, at the diploma, master, and PhD levels. There is a fact that 98.8% of them have less than three years of working experience as food riders. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between all attributes tested (p<0.05) as well as it is proven that attitudes partially mediate the relationship between knowledge and practices. This study may help in developing food safety education intervention programs for food riders in improving their food safety knowledge, attitude and practice.

Microbiological risk ranking of foodborne pathogens and food products in scarce-data settings

In the absence of epidemiological, microbiological or outbreak data, systematic identification of the hazards and food products posing the higher risk to the consumers is challenging. It is usually in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where the burden of foodborne disease is highest that data tend to be particularly scarce. In this study, we propose qualitative risk-ranking methods for pathogens and food products that can be used in settings where scarcity of data on the frequency/concentration of pathogens in foodstuff is a barrier towards the use of classical risk assessment frameworks. The approach integrates the existing knowledge on foodborne pathogens, manufacturing processes and intrinsic/extrinsic properties of food products with key context-specific information regarding the supply chain(s), characteristics of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) and cultural habits to identify: (i) the pathogens that should be considered as a “High” food safety priority and (ii) the food products posing the higher risk of consumer exposure to microbiological hazards via the oral (ingestion) route. When applied to the dairy sector of Andhra Pradesh (India) as a case study, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli , Salmonella spp., S. aureus and L. monocytogenes were identified as a “High” food safety priority across all FBOs. C. sakazakii was identified as a “High” priority for the FBOs producing infant formula/milk powder whilst Shigella spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. a “High” priority when considering the FBOs operating in the unregulated sector. Given the diversity of dairy products considered in the assessment, cluster analysis was used to identify products that shared similar intrinsic/extrinsic features known to drive the microbiological risk. The risk ranking was then done integrating the results of the cluster analysis with context-specific information. Products manufactured/retailed by FBOs in the informal market were considered as posing a “High” risk for the consumers due to a widespread lack of compliance to sanitary regulations. For dairy products produced by FBOs operating in the middle and formal end of the formal-informal spectrum, the risk of consumers exposure to microbiological hazards ranged from “Moderate” to “Extremely low” depending on the FBO and the intrinsic/extrinsic properties of the products. While providing risk estimates of lower precision if compared to data-driven risk assessments, the proposed method maximises the value of the information that can be easily gathered in LMICs and provide informative outputs to support food safety decision-making in contexts where resources to be allocated for prevention of foodborne diseases are limited and the food system is complex. • A method for risk ranking of pathogens/food products in settings where microbiological data is lacking is proposed. • Informed, systematic and transparent food safety decisions can be made in absence of microbiological data. • Sociocultural behaviours & context-specific characteristics of the food chain are major drivers for exposure to microbial hazards

Automatic Mushroom Species Classification Model for Foodborne Disease Prevention Based on Vision Transformer

Mushrooms are the fleshy, spore-bearing structure of certain fungi, produced by a group of mycelia and buried in a substratum. Mushrooms are classified as edible, medicinal, and poisonous. However, many poisoning incidents occur yearly by consuming wild mushrooms. Thousands of poisoning incidents are reported each year globally, and 80% of these are from unidentified species of mushrooms. Mushroom poisoning is one of the most serious food safety issues worldwide. Motivated by this problem, this study uses an open-source mushroom dataset and employs several data augmentation approaches to decrease the probability of model overfitting. We propose a novel deep learning pipeline (ViT-Mushroom) for mushroom classification using the Vision Transformer large network (ViT-L/32). We compared the performance of our method against that of a convolutional neural network (CNN). We visualized the high-dimensional outputs of the ViT-L/32 model to achieve the interpretability of ViT-L/32 using the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) method. The results show that ViT-L/32 is the best on the testing dataset, with an accuracy score of 95.97%. These results surpass previous approaches in reducing intraclass variability and generating well-separated feature embeddings. The proposed method is a promising deep learning model capable of automatically classifying mushroom species, helping wild mushroom consumers avoid eating toxic mushrooms, safeguarding food safety, and preventing public health incidents of food poisoning. The results will offer valuable resources for food scientists, nutritionists, and the public health sector regarding the safety and quality of mushrooms.

An 11-Year Analysis of Bacterial Foodborne Disease Outbreaks in Zhejiang Province, China.

Background: Foodborne diseases are a growing public health problem and contribute significantly to the global burden of disease and mortality. Bacteria are the most common foodborne pathogens. We aimed to explore characteristics of bacterial foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) in Zhejiang Province and to provide data support for foodborne disease prevention and control. Methods: Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyze the data reported by centers for disease control (CDCs) at all levels in Zhejiang Province through Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Surveillance System (FDOSS) during 2010–2020. Results: CDCs in Zhejiang Province reported 517 bacterial FBDOs in 11 years, resulting in 7031 cases, 911 hospitalizations, and 3 deaths. Vibrio parahaemolyticus had the highest number of outbreaks, accounting for 58.41% of the total bacterial outbreaks, followed by Salmonella (18.38%). In all settings, restaurants (37.14%), staff canteens (11.99%), and households (11.80%) were responsible for the large number of outbreaks. Aquatic products (42.08%), meat and meat products (23.56%), cereals (10.81%), and flour products (9.27%) were the most common single foods reported. Further analysis showed that the settings and food vehicles of outbreaks caused by different pathogens were different. Conclusions: Bacterial outbreaks are the most common type of FBDOs in Zhejiang Province. By analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of common pathogenic bacteria, we can identify the etiology, food, and setting that the government needs to focus on, and issue relevant targeted policies to reduce the number of FBDOs.

Recent Advances and Applications of Rapid Microbial Assessment from a Food Safety Perspective.

Unsafe food is estimated to cause 600 million cases of foodborne disease, annually. Thus, the development of methods that could assist in the prevention of foodborne diseases is of high interest. This review summarizes the recent progress toward rapid microbial assessment through (i) spectroscopic techniques, (ii) spectral imaging techniques, (iii) biosensors and (iv) sensors designed to mimic human senses. These methods often produce complex and high-dimensional data that cannot be analyzed with conventional statistical methods. Multivariate statistics and machine learning approaches seemed to be valuable for these methods so as to “translate” measurements to microbial estimations. However, a great proportion of the models reported in the literature misuse these approaches, which may lead to models with low predictive power under generic conditions. Overall, all the methods showed great potential for rapid microbial assessment. Biosensors are closer to wide-scale implementation followed by spectroscopic techniques and then by spectral imaging techniques and sensors designed to mimic human senses.

The Critical Role of Consumers in the Prevention of Foodborne Diseases: An Ethnographic Study of Italian Families.

A high incidence of foodborne diseases occurs in the home setting because consumers adopt inappropriate preparation, consumption, and storage procedures. The present study applies an ethnographic approach to identify inadequate practices that could increase the incidence of foodborne diseases. Techniques related to the ethnographic approach were used: participant observation, kitchens mapping, collection of photographic material, and informal interviews in natural settings. A sample of 14 families was involved through the snowball sampling technique. This study identifies habitual practices and routine behaviour as the main risk factors. The inadequacies most frequently encountered related to the microbiological risks are incorrect handwashing, the presence in the kitchen spaces of objects unrelated to food preparation, the improper use of dishcloths and sponges, the inappropriate washing of utensils and food, the incorrect storage of food in the fridge, and the presence of children and pets without an adequate administration of the spaces. The practices that can expose consumers to chemical risk include food preservation through unsuitable containers/materials, food overcooking, and detergents contamination. The data underline the need to implement communicative and training interventions that give precise and targeted indications about correct safety practices in the home setting.