Food Protection Trends - December 2009 - 859

persons. the cost to the economy of the most recent peanut butter outbreak in the us may exceed $1 billion (18). on a global level, more than 20 foodborne disease outbreaks associated with low-moisture food products were documented in the developed regions between 1970 and 2008 (11). Foods implicated in these outbreaks included chocolate, infant cereals, milk powder, powdered infant formula, peanut butter and other peanut-containing products, raw almonds, and toasted oats cereal (12). at least four of these outbreaks occurred in the us. three major factors that exacerbate the problem of Salmonella contamination of low-moisture foods and their propensity to cause foodborne disease are the following: • • Salmonella cells appear to be more refractory to inactivation procedures in low-moisture foods Salmonella cells that survive inactivation treatments in low-moisture foods or that are introduced into lowmoisture foods after the inactivation step through post-process contamination (more likely) may persist in these foods for long periods of time (weeks to months). The infectious dose for Salmonella in low-moisture foods may be very low (often less than 10 CFu/g), as evidenced by outbreak investigations. • define and characterize mechanisms by which Salmonella develops and maintains resistance to drying, including the effects of different drying processes, food matrices and strain variation. Identify characteristics that may allow some strains to become entrenched and resident in a dry process environment. Develop rapid tools to map and “fingerprint” Salmonella strains in low moisture food environments, allowing for differentiation between potential transient and resident strains. Define optimized methods for recovery and detection of desiccated Salmonella from dry matrices and environments. • • • (b) Salmonella mitigation processes for use in the production of low-moisture foods: • Generate relevant thermal death time data for a number of low-moisture food groups, and develop a model for Salmonella inactivation along a continuing aw/fat spectrum; publish to a database. Evaluate the effectiveness of thermal processes and non-thermal process or hybrid thermal processes as pasteurization steps in the production of low moisture foods. Develop strategies to adequately validate these mitigation processes. Develop strategies to minimize Salmonella load in the raw agricultural commodities. • • taken together, these observations lead to the conclusion that the presence of even small numbers of Salmonella in lowmoisture foods may present a serious human health hazard and is therefore unacceptable.to address this problem, the Grocery Manufacturers association has recently published a guidance document that identifies seven elements for the control of Salmonella in low-moisture foods (11, 12): prevention of introduction and/or spread of Salmonella in the food processing facility, enhancing the stringency of hygiene practices and controls in the primary Salmonella control area, incorporation of hygienic design principles in building and equipment design, preventing/controlling the growth of Salmonella in the processing facility, establishing a raw materials/ingredients control program, validating control measures to inactivate Salmonella, and establishing procedures to ensure that the Salmonella controls are working and for corrective actions. in March 2009, the us Food and drug administration issued the following recommendations to food manufacturers to address the risk of Salmonella contamination of foods containing a peanut-derived product as an ingredient (21): • Purchase peanut-derived product only from suppliers who use validated processes to adequately (e.g., by 5 logs) reduce the numbers of Salmonella cells in their product. If the peanut-derived product is purchased in a form for which no validated process is available, or if there are questions concerning the presence of Salmonella in specific lots of peanut-derived products, ensure that the manufacturer’s own manufacturing process would adequately reduce the numbers of Salmonella cells in their product • • (c) non-aqueous sanitation processes that eliminate Salmonella from dry manufacturing equipment and processes, and strategies to validate the new processes. this research funding initiative of iLsi north america Food Microbiology Committee resulted in the funding of one research project on the inactivation of Salmonella on raw nuts by use of low-energy X-ray. however, the Committee feels that much more comprehensive and targeted applied research needs to be conducted in this area to close knowledge gaps and to generate information that the food industry could use to control the problem of Salmonella contamination of low-moisture foods. CRITICAl ReSeARCh NeedS oN deTeCTIoN ANd MITIgATIoN STRATegIeS FoR vIRAl CAuSeS oF FoodBoRNe IllNeSS viral pathogens, especially norovirus and hepatitis a virus (hav), continue to be a major concern for public health and food safety. Both viruses are mainly transmitted from person to person, but food is also an important source when it becomes contaminated at its source from sewage, e.g., in oyster beds or produce fields, or during preparation by an ill or asymptomatic food worker. the connection to a specific food is most often apparent during outbreaks, and in the latest report on outbreaks of foodborne illness in the us states from 1998 – 2002 (3), norovirus caused 33% of outbreaks and 41% of associated illness of foodborne infections with confirmed etiology, with an increasing trend over the period; likewise, hav caused 2.4% of the outbreaks reported during the same period. norovirus has been reported • in regard to research needs in the area of controlling Salmonella in low-moisture foods, the Committee identified three specific areas and sub-topics within each area: (a) Persistence of Salmonella in low-moisture foods and processing environment: DECEMBER 2009 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS
Food Protection Trends - December 2009

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