Food Protection Trends

Abstracts - February 2003

Providing an Adequate Supply of Microbiologically Safe and Palatable Food and Drinking Water: Contribution of a European Vertically Integrated Approach to Educating Professionals and Consumers — Part 2

Effective Food Security Plans for Production Agriculture and Food Processing

Food Safety Knowledge and Behavior of Sanitarians of Riyadh Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

Providing an Adequate Supply of Microbiologically Safe and Palatable Food and Drinking Water: Contribution of a European Vertically Integrated Approach to Educating Professionals and Consumers — Part 2

D. A. A. Mossel,1* G. P. Morris,2,3 C. B. Struijk,1,4 J. M. Cowden,2 and L. M. Browning2

1Eijkman Foundation for Postgraduate Education and Research in the Medical Microbiology of Foods and Drinking Water at Utrecht University, P.O. Box 6024, 3503 PA Utrecht, The Netherlands; 2Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health, Clifton House, Clifton Place, Glasgow G3 7LN; 3University of Strathclyde, Division of Environmental Health, Glasgow, Scotland; 4University of Hertfordshire, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Hatfield, Herts., UK

SUMMARY
Great efforts are being made, almost worldwide, to identify and subsequently rectify potential causes of process control failures that endanger the microbiological safety of foods. This is being done through application of HACCP-based intervention technologies, relying on impressive scientific and technological knowledge. Nonetheless, food-transmitted infections and intoxinations with a microbiological etiology remain worryingly common.

This failure in management implies the need for a critical review of the strategies in use for protection of the public, with reference, among many other commodities, to catered meals, especially those sold by smaller and less developed enterprises. Success will hinge on motivating and educating all staff whose actions might adversely affect food safety.  A decisive element in these efforts will be to ensure compliance with the Wilson Triad, i.e., longitudinally integrated management of contamination, colonization, and microbial metabolism.

Relevant professionals need improved understanding of the crucial elements of microbiological food and water safety assurance: the interactions between the commodities and their biotic associations, i.e., microbial ecology.  Although an abundant number of meetings on this subject have been convened, structured professional education, ending in at least some test of satisfactory digestion of the presentations, has been mostly lacking. These considerations have prompted the creation of a unique distance-learning course: the European MSc in  Public Health Science (Food and Drinking Water).  The course is a joint initiative of the University of Hertfordshire, the Eijkman Foundation at the University of Utrecht, and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health. It is intended that the project will evolve to embrace academic institutions in other European Union countries.

Effective Food Security Plans for Production Agriculture and Food Processing

Gleyn E. Bledsoe1  andBarbara A. Rasco2* 

1Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, Box 646120, Pullman, WA 99164-6120; 2Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Washington State University, Box 646376 Pullman, WA 99164-6376

SUMMARY
A model for developing a food security program derived from Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles, along with implementation strategies and developmental approaches, is presented here. Models applicable to production agriculture, food processing, food distribution, or food service that interface with current HACCP (e.g., for fishery products: 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 123), good manufacturing practices (GMP) (21 CFR Part 110) and recall programs (21 CFR Part 7) are presented.

Food Safety Knowledge and Behavior of Sanitarians of Riyadh Municipality (Saudi Arabia)

mossfer m. al-dagal

Food Science and Nutrition Department, King Saud University 
P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

SUMMARY
The purpose of this work was to evaluate food safety knowledge and behavior of sanitarians in Riyadh City (SA). Most of the participants were Saudi nationals, 20 to 40 years old, with a diploma in food hygiene control. More than 67% of them initiate field inspection visits based on a scheduled plan.  A high percentage (61.4-78%) believed that milk, meat, and eggs are hazardous foods. Some gaps were observed in safety knowledge, such as recognition of pH and aw as limiting factors of microbial growth. Eighty-two percent did not know the temperature danger zone. Respondents showed high awareness with regard to some common pathogens such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus but not with regard to emerging ones such as Campylobacter. Knowledge was relatively good with regard to the importance of refrigeration temperatures and the shelf life of refrigerated meats but was relatively poor with regard to freezing temperature and the shelf life of frozen meat. Knowledge was obviously scanty in some critical aspects of food safety, and the results of this study should be useful in improving the inspection plan and the scientific background of sanitarians working in Riyadh Municipality. New job openings, should be filled with candidates with better qualifications, especially in the fields of food microbiology and food quality control.