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.

 

 

 

WP15 Food Safety Management Systems

WP Leader: Roland Verhé, UGENT, Belgium

The objective of WP15 is to develop a generic and several specific Food Safety Management System (FSMS) based upon the techno-managerial approach, to produce safe food. The techno-managerial approach involves the contemporary use of technological and managerial models to predict food systems behaviour and to generate adequate improvement of systems. The technological input for the Food Safety Management System will be based on the tools and methods developed in PathogenCombat to prevent and monitor pathogens occurrence and behaviour. The new methods and tools are primarily developed and validated in WP3, WP4, WP5, WP6, WP8, WP9, WP10, WP11, WP12 and WP14. They are implemented and applied in WP13.

The FSMS is a key element in the dissemination of knowledge within and beyond the Consortium. As an input of the FSMS a theoretical research model will be developed to identify critical factors that affect quality behaviour of different actors in the food production chain. This research model will enable:

·         Understanding of how typical process and product conditions (e.g. high versus low risk foods) within specific organisational context (e.g. organisational structure, culture, education level etc) affect decision-making with respect to food safety issues;

·         Assessment of how decision-making processes (on both management and operation level) will be affected by implementation of new tools and methods to monitor food safety;

·         Identification of organisational consequences of the new tools and techniques (e.g. faster monitoring methods might have a large impact on logistics in the food chain, less storage capacities due shorter feedback circles);

·         Estimation of critical behaviour of consumers that influences actual food safety at consumption.

The theoretical research model will be translated to concrete guidelines to enable assessment of critical behaviour points (CBP) (similar to critical control points, CCPs) in the food chain.

The integrated managerial and technological insights will be incorporated in the Food Safety Management System that will be implemented in SMEs from the dairy, poultry pork and ruminants industries being Partners in the project. The system will consider the complete food chain i.e. feed and feed processing, water supplies, primary production, processing, packaging storage and distribution, retailing and the consumer.

The quality system is not only seen as a necessity for implementing the obtained results but it is also seen as a direct way of demonstration and dissemination of results as mentioned above. The results of this WP will be the primary basis for training activities as well.

 This WP will also include a validation of new molecular based methods developed for qualitative and quantitative analyses of bacterial pathogens in WP4, WP5 and WP6. Validation of the PCR-based procedures will be based upon the use of model matrices and relevant foods. The methods will be validated to the extent that requirement of quality standards for laboratories such as ISO 17025 are met.

The following tasks are included in the WP.

Task 15.1      Development and demonstration for SMEs of generic food safety management system integrating the new tools and methods developed in the project

Task 15.2      Development and demonstration for SMEs of an integrated food management safety system to be implemented in the production chain for cheese.

Task 15.3      Development and demonstration for SMEs of a food safety management system to be implemented in the production chain for processed poultry.

Task 15.4      Development and demonstration for SMEs of a food safety management system to be implemented in the production chain for processed pork.

Task 15.5      Development and demonstration for SMEs of a food safety management system to be implemented in the production chain for beef and lamb.

Task 15.6      Validation and quality assurance of molecular methods for detection of bacterial pathogens.

 

The following Partners will be involved in this WP:
Partner 14, Partner 16, Partner18 and Partner 37, the SME Partners: Partner 26, Partner 28, Partner 29, Partner 30, Partner 31, Partner 33, Partner 34 and Partner 46 will be involved in this WP. For ‘farm animals’ as part of the FSMS assistance will be provided by Partner 1 and Partner 43 in identifying information needed (see also WP13).