Research, Technology and Development IV

RTD Leader: Bruno Biavati, BU, Italy

WP13 Application in the Food Chain

WP Leader: Bruno Biavati, BU, ITALY

This WP will disseminate the research including results obtained in food and feed model systems into practical application in the food chain. Several different food chains have been selected for the transfer.

The transfer into practical application in this WP will comprise the food processing SME Partners of PathogenCombat, i.e. Partners 28-29, 31-35 and 46-47. Of these, three are producing poultry products; four are dairies producing cheese and one produces dry ham from pork. One is producing poultry, beef and pork. Two are producing beef and lamb.

The dissemination and transfer into practical application will include:

1.      The culture independent techniques, microarrays and resuscitation and enrichment methods developed and validated in WP4, WP5, WP6 and WP15.

2.      The protective and probiotic cultures identified in WP10.

3.      Hygienic processing systems WP11.

4.      Novel processing technologies developed in WP12.

5.      Good hygienic practice for animal production at farm level with special emphasis on prevention of pathogens in cheese and milk, poultry, pigs, beef and lamb.

6.      Water as a source of contamination with pathogens (WP13).

7.      Further development and implementation of the Food Safety Management System designed in WP15.

For primary production and feed mills the experience gained from Salmonella programmes in Sweden and The Netherlands will be used. Assistance will be provided by Partner 1 and Partner 43.

For beef and lamb good hygienic practice at farm level will be the responsibility of Partner 42. Processing of beef and lamb will be taken care of by Partner 36. The overall responsible for beef and lamb will be Partner 17.

For water the potential role in foodborne disease and the distribution of pathogens to various types of processed commodities is well known. The food-water route in dissemination of C. jejuni has been well described. Recognised outbreaks caused by this pathogen are usually caused by contaminated water, milk or poultry. Similarly, L. monocytogenes has been shown to survive in water for long periods. The water-food route is therefore an essential point for monitoring the occurrence and preventing the spread of pathogens, and particular attention will be given to water in this WP. Partner 48 will be responsible.

Training, NTC II, is an important condition of the application in the food chain. The time schedule of the training activities and the Partners responsible are described in Section 6.2.

This WP will include the following tasks:

Task 13.1      Application in SME milk and cheese production

Task 13.2      Application in SME poultry processing

Task 13.3      Application in SME pork processing

Task 13.4      Application in SME beef and lamb processing

Task 13.5      Water as a source of contamination in SMEs

Partner 5, Partner 17, Partner 18, Partner 19, Partner 37 and Partner 48, the SME Partners: Partner 26, Partner 28, Partner 29, Partner 30, Partner 31, Partner 32, Partner 33, Partner 34 and Partner 46 and the industrial Partner 27 and Partner 47 will be involved in this WP.

WP14 Modelling microbial population behaviour throughout the food chain - estimation of microbial food safety risk 

WP Leader: Tom McMeekin, AFSCoE, Australia

This WP will collate the information and knowledge generated in WP8, WP9, WP10, WP12, WP13 and WP15, and generate this new knowledge into a form, which can be used to develop effective food safety management strategies and to support food safety management decisions in WP13.

It is recognised that major risk assessments that have been undertaken to date have been very labour intensive and that more efficient approaches are required including the identification of processes/operations common to many foods (termed a “module”) and the development of detailed and rigorous generic (conceptual) models of those processes. The modules will be made specific for specific products by inclusion of product/process specific data. This approach has been termed Modular Process Risk Models (MPRM).

To estimate the numbers of microorganisms and amount at fungal biomass present at the time of eating from levels known at some earlier time in the products history requires a sound and quantitative knowledge of the responses of microorganisms to the environmental conditions they experience in food. Predictive microbiology models satisfy this objective and will be embedded into farm to fork risk assessment models. In this WP Stochastic models based on numbers and virulence of pathogens provided by WP8, WP9, WP10, WP12 and WP13 will be available and similar models will be developed for growth of P. nordicum and expression of ochratoxin biosynthetic genes based upon data from WP2, WP8 and WP13. These models will lead to estimation of microbial food safety risk based on numbers and virulence of pathogens including growth and ochratoxin formation by filamentous fungi.

The WP will include the following tasks:

Task 14.1         Identification of CCP by use of stochastic simulation models based upon quantification of numbers of pathogens including mycotoxin producing fungi and their virulence/toxcicity expression along the entire food chain.

Task 14.2         Estimation of microbial food safety risk at time of consumption based upon stochastic simulation modelling of number of pathogens and their virulence/toxcicity gene expression.

Partner 14, Partner 18 and Partner 36 will be involved in this WP.

- last update:27 April 2006