Microbiological Risk Assessment Associated With The Food Processing And Distribution Chain

According to the World Health Organization, one in every ten people worldwide falls ill from eating contaminated food every year, with 550 million cases of diarrheal diseases. Microbiological risk assessment aims to characterize the nature and probability of harm resulting from human exposure to the biological agents that are present in foodstuffs. This assessment must take into account all stages of the chain: from the production of raw materials to consumption. After briefly introducing food safety and risk assessment, this book details the four major steps of microbiological risk assessment. The contributors first present hazard identification and then exposure assessment, which is subdivided into methods for the detection and enumeration of pathogens and for the quantification of the level of exposure. Then, hazard characterization is subdivided into pathogenicity mechanisms and quantification of the dose–response relationship. Finally a guide for microbiological risk characterization is provided. The conclusion presents possible development avenues for microbiological risk assessment, particularly its integration into a holistic assessment of food systems.

According to the World Health Organization, one in every ten people worldwide falls ill from eating contaminated food every year, with 550 million cases of diarrheal diseases. Microbiological risk assessment aims to characterize the nature and probability of harm resulting from human exposure to the biological agents that are present in foodstuffs. This assessment must take into account all stages of the chain: from the production of raw materials to consumption. After briefly introducing food safety and risk assessment, this book details the four major steps of microbiological risk assessment. The contributors first present hazard identification and then exposure assessment, which is subdivided into methods for the detection and enumeration of pathogens and for the quantification of the level of exposure. Then, hazard characterization is subdivided into pathogenicity mechanisms and quantification of the dose–response relationship. Finally a guide for microbiological risk characterization is provided. The conclusion presents possible development avenues for microbiological risk assessment, particularly its integration into a holistic assessment of food systems.

The chilling and freezing of meat remains an essential way of extending shelf-life and maintaining quality. Based on the work of the internationally-renowned Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Centre (FRPERC), Meat refrigeration provides an authoritative guide both to the impact of refrigeration on meat and best practice in using it to maximise meat quality for the consumer. Part one considers the impact of refrigeration on meat quality. There are chapters on the microbiology of refrigerated meat and its influence on shelf-life, drip production, weight loss and the effect of refrigeration on colour and texture. Part two looks at best practice in managing the cold chain from carcass to consumer. The authors discuss primary chilling, freezing, thawing and tempering, transport, storage, retail display and consumer handing. Part three of the book looks at aspects of process control, including chapters on such issues as temperature measurement, the design and optimal use of refrigeration systems. Both authoritative and practical, Meat refrigeration is a standard work for all those wishing to maximise the quality of refrigerated meat. The standard work on meat refrigerationCovers both individual quality issues and the management of the cold chain from carcass to consumer.

The guidelines aim to provide a practical framework and approach for undertaking exposure assessment of microbiological hazards (bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa and microbial toxins) in foods in the context of a risk assessment or as a stand-alone process.

The second edition of Microorganisms in Foods 7: Microbiological Testing in Food Safety Management updates and expands on information on the role of microbiological testing in modern food safety management systems. After helping the reader understand the often confusing statistical concepts underlying microbiological sampling, the second edition explores how risk assessment and risk management can be used to establish goals such as a “tolerable levels of risk,” Appropriate Levels of Protection, Food Safety Objectives or Performance Objectives for use in controlling foodborne illness. Guidelines for establishing effective management systems for control of specific hazards in foods are also addressed, including new examples for pathogens and indicator organisms in powdered infant formula, Listeria monocytogenes in deli-meats, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in leafy green vegetables, viruses in oysters and Campylobacter in poultry. In addition, a new chapter on application of sampling concept to microbiological methods, expanded chapters covering statistical process control, investigational sampling, environmental sampling, and alternative sampling schemes. The respective roles of industry and government are also explored, recognizing that it is through their collective actions that effective food safety systems are developed and verified. Understanding these systems and concepts can help countries determine whether imported foods were produced with an equivalent level of protection. Microorganisms in Foods 7 is intended for anyone using microbiological testing or setting microbiological criteria, whether for governmental food inspection and control, or industrial applications. It is also intended for those identifying the most effective use of microbiological testing in the food supply chain. For students in food science and technology, this book provides a wealth of information on food safety management principles used by government and industry, with many references for further study. The information was prepared by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF). The ICMSF was formed in response to the need for internationally acceptable and authoritative decisions on microbiological limits for foods in international commerce. The current membership consists of fifteen food microbiologists from twelve countries, drawn from government, universities, and food processing and related industries.

Foodstuffs can be the vector of a variety of hazards that adversely affect the health of the consumer. Viruses are the leading causes of foodborne infectious diseases, and pathogenic bacteria and bacterial toxins are the leading agents of zoonotic diseases in Europe, not to mention other biological hazards, such as parasites, which can spread to humans through food. In addition to these biological dangers, chemicals used in agriculture, environmental pollutants and additives can all end up on the consumer’s plate and ultimately damage their health. Hazards in the Food Processing and Distribution Chain covers both chemical and microbiological dangers, aiming to outline the principle of risk analysis with some examples to illustrate the reasoning involved in this process.

It is in the risk characterization step that the results of the risk assessment are presented.