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Food Protection Trends
Abstracts - June 2006
Preharvest Processes for
Microbial Control in Cattle
Food Safety Practices of Vendors
at Farmers’ Markets in Florida
Effectiveness and Efficiency
of Official Food Control
Interventions in Restaurant
Establishments
Preharvest Processes for
Microbial Control in Cattle
D. R. Woeriner, J. R. Ransom, J. N. Sofos, J. A. Scanga, G. C. Smith and K. E. Belk
Center for Red Meat Safety, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1171, USA
SUMMARY
This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of single
and multiple preharvest intervention strategies on prevalence of
Escherichia coli O157 on/in cattle before transport to harvest. Cattle
from 24 pens [approximately 200 head of cattle (419 kg) per pen]
were randomly allocated (3 pens/treatment) to one of eight treatments:
Control (CT; No treatment), Bovamine (Bov; a Lactobacillus acidophilus
NPC-747 dietary product), NEOMIX (Neo; feeding of neomycin
sulfate), an E. coli O157:H7 bacterin vaccine (Vac), and all combinations
of the single treatments. Treatment of cattle with Bov and Vac began
60 d preharvest, while Neo was administered for 3 d, followed by a
24 h withdrawal period, immediately before harvest. Fecal and hide
samples were randomly collected from 25 animals per pen, fecal
samples by rectal palpation, and hide samples by sponge-swabbing a
500 cm2 area over the dorsal-thorax region. All cattle were sampled
within a 10-day time period and samples were collected no more
than 48 h before harvest. Results showed that CT cattle had the highest
prevalence of E. coli O157 (45.8 and 40.3%, for fecal and hide samples,
respectively), while treated cattle presented numerically lower
prevalences. Neo was the most effective single intervention; treated
animals had E. coli O157 prevalence of 0.0 and 8.5%, in feces and on
hides, respectively. Bov-and Vac-treated animals pathogen prevalence
levels were 13.3 and 14.7%, respectively, in fecal samples and 22.7 and
20.0%, respectively, on hides. When Bov, Vac, and Neo were used in
combination, pathogen prevalence in fecal and hide samples were 2.7
and 6.7%, respectively. A preliminary antibiotic susceptibility study of
E. coli O157 isolates recovered from feces of cattle treated with Neo
showed no increased resistance to a panel of 21 antibiotics when
compared to isolates from untreated cattle; however, because of a
lack of power, differences were not likely to be identified. This
preliminary study demonstrated that preharvest mitigation strategies
used singly or in combination may be effective in reducing prevalence
of E. coli O157 in market-ready feedlot cattle.
Food Safety Practices of Vendors
at Farmers’ Markets in Florida
A. Simonne, M. Swisher, and K. Saunders-Ferguson
Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, IFAS/University of Florida, 3028-E McCarty Hall,
P.O. Box 110310 Gainesville, FL 32611-0310, USA
SUMMARY
The number of farmers’ markets in the United States (US) has
grown dramatically in recent years, increasing 111% between 1994
and 2004. Many participants of federal food assistance programs aimed
at helping those in susceptible population groups, such as pregnant
women, children, and the elderly, purchase from vendors at farmers’
markets. Therefore, it is important to evaluate how well-informed
these vendors are about food safety practices and issues and where
they get their information about food safety. Such an evaluation of
Florida’s farmers’ markets is the goal of this study. The objective is to
identify the need for and priorities of educational programs in this
area. Two farmers’ markets in each Florida Extension district were
included in the study. A closed response, 15-item self-completed
questionnaire was used to evaluate farmers’ training in food safety
practices and their attitudes about the importance of food safety
training and information. A total of 47 vendors returned the completed
surveys. Overall, more than 50 per cent of the vendors who responded
sell produce-related items. Other outlets for their products include
produce stands, U-pick operations, and restaurants. Even though more
than 50% of the respondents think that food safety is important for
their operation, only 32% have completed food safety training. The
majority of the respondents provide their own farm labor. When
asked about the FDA’s “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety
Hazards for Fresh Produce (GAPs),” 44% of the vendors were not
aware of this publication. The results of this study will provide insights
for educators who want to develop food safety educational programs
for these producers, most of whom are small farmers.
Effectiveness and Efficiency
of Official Food Control
Interventions in Restaurant
Establishments
Francisca M. Vinuesa-1 and Ricardo Ocana-Riola-2
1-Metropolitan Health District of Granada, Granada, Spain
2-Andalusian School of Public Health, Granada, Spain
SUMMARY
The methodology proposed by official bodies for adopting
decisions regarding foodstuffs is risk analysis, and the first step in
performing this is the identification of non-desirable events. The
deficiencies or irregularities that exist in food establishments are nondesirable
events that the official food control services must detect.
Following this criterion, the aim is to determine the effectiveness and
efficiency of the official control services. This is an ecological study in
which the unit of study is time and the study subjects are restaurant
establishments. A time-series analysis was carried out with the use
of multivariate auto-regressive linear regression models. The results
showed that the activity varied between the health districts. The activity
is affected mainly by the irregularities, and to a lesser extent by the
census. The trend of irregularities is a decrease in three of the four
districts, and is directly related to the frequency of visits paid to the
establishments.
It can therefore be concluded that interventions by the official
food control services succeed in reducing the number of irregularities.
The study of the irregularities over time is a useful tool to obtain
necessary information in the management of official food control
programs.
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