Comparing the effect of various contamination levels for salmonella in chicken meat preparations on the probability of illness in belgium

J Food Prot. 2009 Oct;72(10):2093-105. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-72.10.2093.

Abstract

At the urging of competent national authorities, a limited risk assessment on Salmonella in chicken meat preparations in Belgium was undertaken following a retail-to-table approach. The input distribution of Salmonella was based on surveillance data in Belgium. To analyze the relative impact of reducing the risk of salmonellosis associated with a decrease in the Salmonella contamination level, different distributions based on the actual situation but limiting the number of portions containing Salmonella at 1 CFU per 1, 10, and 25 g of meat were used in the quantitative microbial risk assessment model. The quantitative microbial risk assessment model also was run several times with a theoretical fixed input of Salmonella assuming all portions possessed the same fixed contamination level set at 1,000, 100, 10, and 1 CFU/g of meat and 1 CFU per 10, 25, 100, and 1,000 g of meat. With regard to the initial contamination level, the results indicate, both by the narrowing of the current distribution and by the fixed input, that especially the higher levels of contamination (>1 CFU/g) contribute to the increased risk for salmonellosis.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Belgium / epidemiology
  • Chickens
  • Colony Count, Microbial
  • Consumer Product Safety
  • Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
  • Food Contamination / analysis*
  • Food Handling / methods*
  • Humans
  • Meat / microbiology*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Salmonella / isolation & purification*
  • Salmonella Food Poisoning / epidemiology*
  • Salmonella Food Poisoning / prevention & control