scholarly journals Inspecting inspection reports, does the type of restaurant change the risk?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Cseke ◽  
BCIT School of Health Sciences, Environmental Health ◽  
Helen Heacock ◽  
Bobby Sidhu ◽  
Lorraine McIntyre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Metro Vancouver ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Food Borne Illness ◽  
Critical Violations ◽  
Hazard Rating

  Background An estimated of 4 million Canadians (one in eight people) become ill every year from a food-borne illness (Thomas et al., 2013). The economic and social burdens of these illnesses are vast. As restaurants are a big sector of the food industry, improving their food safety would reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are on the front line, educating restaurant operators in order to improve food safety. In Metro Vancouver there are many different types of ethnicities and types of restaurants; this provides a challenge for EHOs to know where to allocate their time and resources. Methods The author analyzed 150 Fraser Health inspection reports in the Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey municipalities. The restaurants fell into three different categories: i) Independently owned ethnic, ii) Independently owned, non-ethnic and iii) chain non-ethnic restaurants. Hazard ratings, number of critical and number of non-critical violations from their latest inspection report were compared. Each violation code was also recorded to identify any infraction trends that exist. Results Analysis of the number of critical violations identified ethnic, chain non-ethnic, and independent non-ethnic restaurants as not being significantly different (p=0.09). The number of non-critical violations was different (0.033), with ethnic restaurants having the most. The number of critical violations, when treating each ethnicity as its own category, is however significantly different (p=0.044) between restaurant types. There was a significant association between hazard rating and restaurant type, with independent ethnic restaurants having the worst hazard rating (p=0.017). Conclusion The type of ownership (independent vs chain) and the restaurant type were not a factor when looking at number of critical violations that a restaurant commits. Independent ethnic restaurants had a slightly higher mean number of critical violations. Japanese restaurants had the highest number of critical violations out of the three ethnicities studied. These findings suggest a slight disparity in risk to public health between ethnic and non-ethnic restaurants.  

scholarly journals The importance of an early alert from the Microbiology Laboratory and multidisciplinary collaboration during a suspected salmonellosis outbreak

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Anesi ◽  
Maria Lucia Panceri ◽  
Sara Asticcioli ◽  
Dominga Baroni ◽  
Vanina Rognoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Sporadic Cases

<em>Background and aims.</em> Salmonellosis is one of the most common and widely distributed food-borne diseases. The increasing complexity and globalization of the food industry are causing an increase of some of these large-scale food-borne illnesses, thus there is a need for improvements in public health signal detection and communication streams between laboratories and regulatory agencies. The aim of this study is to show how the early reporting of salmonellosis cases directly from the Laboratory of Microbiology to the Local Health Service Infectious Diseases Office along with the prompt response of the ASL, and the rapid involvement of the Local Veterinary Prevention Department resulted in an improved individuation and investigation of a suspected food-borne outbreak with anomalous manifestation. <br /><em>Materials and methods.</em> From August to November 2014 the early warning from the Laboratory of Microbiology regarding <em>Salmonella</em> spp. isolates with the identical serogroup and antibiotic resistance phenotype, allowed for prompt identification of a food-borne infection. <br /><em>Results and conclusions.</em> The genotyping analysis suggested that over the period considered there was more than a single monophasic <em>Salmonella</em> <em>typhimurium</em> isolate: one responsible for the sporadic cases that occurred in September and October, and another in November.

scholarly journals Plesiomonas: A Review on Food Safety, Fish-Borne Diseases, and Tilapia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Alejandro De Jesús Cortés-Sánchez ◽  
Luis Daniel Espinosa-Chaurand ◽  
Mayra Díaz-Ramirez ◽  
Erika Torres-Ochoa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Plesiomonas Shigelloides ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
And Control

Fish and fish products are considered a fundamental part of the human diet due to their high nutritional value. Food-borne diseases are considered a major public health challenge worldwide due to their incidence, associated mortality, and negative economic repercussions. Food safety is the guarantee that foods will not cause harm to the health of those who consume them, and it is a fundamental property of food quality. Food safety can be at risk of being lost at any stage of the food chain if the food is contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms. Many diverse bacteria are present in the environment and as part of the microbiota of food that can be transmitted to humans during the handling and consumption of food. Plesiomonas shigelloides has been mainly associated with outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases due to the consumption of fish. This bacterium inhabits the environment and aquatic animals and is associated with the microbiota of fish such as tilapia, a fish of importance in fishing, aquaculture, commercialization, and consumption worldwide. The purpose of this document is to provide, through a bibliographic review of databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, among others), a general informative perspective on food-borne diseases and, in particular, the consumption of fish and tilapia. Diseases derived from contamination by Plesiomonas shigelloides are included, and control and prevention actions and sanitary regulations for fishery products established in several countries around the world are discussed to promote the safety of foods of aquatic origin intended for human consumption and to protect public health.

scholarly journals Food quality, food-borne diseases, and food safety in the Brazilian food industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Manuela Camino Feltes ◽  
Adriana Pavesi Arisseto-Bragotto ◽  
Jane Mara Block
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Quality ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Quality Food ◽  
Food Borne

scholarly journals Food safety in Bangladesh: A microbiological perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashed Noor ◽  
Farahnaaz Feroz
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Microbiological Contamination ◽  
Food Inspection ◽  
Legislative Action ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Food Borne Illness ◽  
Regulatory Bodies

Bangladesh has long been facing problems associated with microbiological contamination of varieties foods due to the lack of awareness on hygiene followed by the defective legislative action. Manifestation of microbial prevalence in different foods bring about vital information on food safety as well as may envisage on the further intoxication caused by the prevailing microorganisms. Although a few extent of food inspection is apparently in some of the governmental regulatory bodies; however, the mass population is still suffering from a number of food borne illness. Present review partially focused on the microbiological regulation of the foods in Bangladesh and discussed the possible remedies for the maintenance of food safety.Stamford Journal of Microbiology, Vol.6(1) 2016: 1-6

scholarly journals An epidemiological investigation of food-borne disease surveillance in the Ncera Villages, Eastern Cape, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Khanya Zukolwakhe Bisholo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Food Borne Illness ◽  
Household Heads ◽  
At Home

An increase in food-borne disease burden in the world’s population has raised concerns over the reliability of surveillance systems. Research has shown the importance of food-borne surveillance systems used in the detection and management of food-borne illness. Government fiscals are increasingly burdened by the rapid spread of food-borne illness, although the exact economic impact is unclear in many countries. In recent years, food security has been the main agenda overshadowing food safety. A reactional approach to outbreaks is the trend instead of proactive systems. Food-borne disease is associated with low and high socio-economic status populations. More than 30 pathogens were identified as the major causes of food- borne outbreaks globally, and some food-borne pathogens have long term health consequences. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate food-borne diseases surveillance in Ncera, Mpongo and Needscamp villages and local clinics, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Methodology: A retrospective, observational, quantitative study was conducted in two phases. The first phase included the screening of tick registers at Ncera, Mpongo and Needscamp clinics. The screening was to determine the number of food-borne cases that were reported at these clinics. In the second phase, a stratified random sampling method was used to interview 90 households from the above-mentioned villages to determine the number of villagers who suffered from food-borne diseases, symptoms experienced and food safety practices. Results from both phases were compared to determine whether the number of reported cases at the clinics reflected the same number of cases in the villages from 2012 to 2014. The total size of the study population was 5007 people. Respondents were invited to participate having signed informed consent. Data was summarised and described using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and standard deviations. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23; cross tabulations and Chi-square tests at a probability of p< 0.05 were done. Graphs and tables were used to graphically represent the data. Results: It was found that the majority of household heads were female (n = 51; 58.6%) and 33 (37.9%) of them were married. Most of the residents (n = 84; 96.5%) use the public health clinics for their medical condition treatment. Fifty-six (64.4%) household heads were HIV negative. The majority of households had a monthly income of R1 500 – R 3 500 (n = 45; 51.7). Less than a tenth (n = 6; 6.9%) of household heads were very concerned about the safety of food prepared at home. The relationship between food safety concern levels about food prepared at home and away from home was statistically significant (p = 0.000), reporting a significant difference in the way people perceive the preparation of food at home and away from home. More than a tenth of the villagers (n = 79; 19.7%) reported through the questionnaire, that they fell ill or thought that they fell ill from something they ate in the past 3 months. More than half (n = 56; 51.3%) of the participants who fell ill with food- borne diseases in these villages did not seek medical treatment for their illness whilst 6 (54.6%) did not see the need to seek medical treatment and reported that they got ill during weekends. Of those who sought medical treatment, 16 (39%) received prescribed medication while 3 (7%) reported that they were not provided with medication by healthcare providers when they suffered from food-borne illness. More than a quarter (n = 109; 27.3%) of household members fell ill from food-borne diseases in Ncera, Mpongo and Needscamp villages during the period 2012 to 2014. Whereas there were four food-borne cases reported to the clinics in the same period. Conclusion: This research gathered information regarding food-borne disease prevalence in Ncera, Mpongo and Needscamp villages. It was observed that there is a gap in the surveillance of food-borne illness in these villages. In some of the tick registers used by healthcare providers at clinics to collect data, vital surveillance information such as gender, age and diagnosis was missing. This study deepens the understanding of food-borne illness and food safety in a village setting.

scholarly journals Cannabis microbiome sequencing reveals several mycotoxic fungi native to dispensary grade Cannabis flowers

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin McKernan ◽  
Jessica Spangler ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Vasisht Tadigotla ◽  
Yvonne Helbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Next Generation Sequencing ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Regulatory Requirement ◽  
Safety Testing ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Generation Sequencing ◽  
The U.S

The Center for Disease Control estimates 128,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized annually due to food borne illnesses. This has created a demand for food safety testing targeting the detection of pathogenic mold and bacteria on agricultural products. This risk extends to medicalCannabisand is of particular concern with inhaled, vaporized and even concentratedCannabisproducts.As a result, third party microbial testing has become a regulatory requirement in the medical and recreationalCannabismarkets, yet knowledge of theCannabismicrobiome is limited. Here we describe the first next generation sequencing survey of the microbial communities found in dispensary basedCannabisflowers and demonstrate the limitations in the culture-based regulations that are being superimposed from the food industry.

scholarly journals Food contamination, food safety and COVID-19 outbreak

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saitin Sim ◽  
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Health Personnel ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Food Contamination ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Specific Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Viral Contamination ◽  
Food Borne

PurposeCOVID-19) is the present global problem. The potential for food borne transmission of COVID-19 becomes a present discussed public health issue. At present, there are many reports on the food contamination with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is no doubt that the viral contamination in food is possible. The authors summarize and discuss on food contamination, food safety and COVID-19 outbreak.Design/methodology/approachThe authors give a commentary on the available data on food contamination during COVID-19 outbreak. Based on basic food safety principles, the authors build an argument on available recommendation regarding food safety during the COVID-19 outbreak.FindingsIt still lacks in many details of food safety during COVID-19 pandemic. Public health personnel usually refer to classical food safety principles for recommending general people about food safety, but it still lacks for updated specific data on COVID-19. The present commentary gives some few ideas and it is necessary to have further specific research on this specific issue.Originality/valueThis is an original commentary regarding the new contemporary problem on food contamination, food safety and COVID-19 outbreak.

scholarly journals The affect of temperature and pH on the food safety of kombucha tea

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Hammel ◽  
BCIT School of Health Sciences, Environmental Health ◽  
Vanessa Karakilic ◽  
Fred Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Ph Change ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Kombucha Tea ◽  
Initial Ph ◽  
Food Borne Illness

  Objectives: Kombucha tea is becoming an increasingly popular food item within the Vancouver area. The tea is prepared through fermentation at room temperature during which acidic by-products are produced lowering the overall pH of the tea. Though the pH eventually reaches levels below 4.6, many health authorities prevent the sale of kombucha in farmers markets due to potential food safety issues. The initial pH before fermentation is around 5.5 and is then left at room temperature to ferment. As a result, this process potentially could allow for food borne illness causing organisms to survive and proliferate within the sugared tea. This research project will investigate the relationship of pH and time during fermentation at both room and refrigeration temperatures. Fermentation within a refrigerator could provide a safer alternative fermentation method Methods: The pH was measured using a pH meter for 30 samples at both room and refrigeration temperatures providing a total of 60 samples. The pH was measured periodically every twelve hours for a total of 120 hours. The data was analyzed using a linear regression model to determine if the pH change over time was statistically significant. The time at which the pH dropped below 4.6 was also noted for food safety purposes Results: At room temperature the pH steadily decreased in a linear fashion throughout the entire sampling period, dropping below 4.6 within 12 hours. The pH decreased in a nearly identical fashion when fermented in a refrigerator for the first 72 hours of sampling. After the 72 hour mark the pH stabilized at approximately 3.75, whereas the pH at room temperature continued to decrease down to 3.10 after the full sampling period Conclusion: The results indicate that kombucha tea becomes a non-potentially hazardous food within the first 12 hours of fermentation. The pH dropped below 4.6 after 12 hours at which point no food borne illness causing bacteria are able to survive and proliferate within the tea. The observed decrease in pH during the first 72 hours within a refrigerator is unlikely to have resulted from the fermentation process and therefore is not a feasible practice. Fermentation at room temperature appears to be a relatively safe process if home brewers are able to measure the pH change and carry out the process in a sanitary manner  

Evaluation of Food Safety and Hygienic Practices in the Tourism Industry: A Case Study of Some Selected Restaurants in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 117 (11) ◽  
pp. 34-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Catherine Impraim ◽  
Priscilla Osae- Akonnor ◽  
Emmanuel Kwesi Nyantakyi
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Food Borne Illness ◽  
Regulatory Bodies

In Ghana, although a number of regulations are in place to guide caterers in their operations, hygienic practices among restaurants in the Kumasi Metropolitan area are inadequate. The hospitality industry alone accounts for about 44% of all the reported food-borne illness outbreaks. The main objective of the study was to assess and evaluate the extent at which licensed restaurants in the Kumasi Metropolis observe food safety and hygienic practices regulations in food provision. Fifty (50) respondents were drawn from the population under study, specifically from staff, managers and regulatory bodies including the Metropolitan Assembly. Primary data was collected from the three groups. Questionnaires were administered and in-depth interview was conducted. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data collected from the respondents in the survey. The study showed that customers in the selected restaurants were very much satisfied at the extent by which restaurants in the Kumasi Metropolis observe and apply the food safety and hygienic practices. It was also revealed that there is adequate evidence to show that formal education and professional training have a significant impact on food safety and hygienic practices of caterers and restaurant managers in the tourism industry in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study recommends that restaurants in the metropolis should be encouraged to sponsor their workers to enroll in some professional programmes to acquire more knowledge for the purpose of practicing food safety and hygiene in the restaurant business. It is further recommended that regulatory bodies should improve their performance by maintaining high standard of food hygiene.

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