Salmonella and Salmonellosis: An Update on Public Health Implications and Control Strategies.

Salmonellosis is globally recognized as one of the leading causes of acute human bacterial gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of animal-derived products, particularly those derived from the poultry and pig industry. Salmonella spp. is generally associated with self-limiting gastrointestinal symptoms, lasting between 2 and 7 days, which can vary from mild to severe. The bacteria can also spread in the bloodstream, causing sepsis and requiring effective antimicrobial therapy; however, sepsis rarely occurs. Salmonellosis control strategies are based on two fundamental aspects: (a) the reduction of prevalence levels in animals by means of health, biosecurity, or food strategies and (b) protection against infection in humans. At the food chain level, the prevention of salmonellosis requires a comprehensive approach at farm, manufacturing, distribution, and consumer levels. Proper handling of food, avoiding cross-contamination, and thorough cooking can reduce the risk and ensure the safety of food. Efforts to reduce transmission of Salmonella by food and other routes must be implemented using a One Health approach. Therefore, in this review we provide an update on Salmonella, one of the main zoonotic pathogens, emphasizing its relationship with animal and public health. We carry out a review on different topics about Salmonella and salmonellosis, with a special emphasis on epidemiology and public health, microbial behavior along the food chain, predictive microbiology principles, antimicrobial resistance, and control strategies.

Tracking Microbial Diversity and Hygienic-Sanitary Status during Processing of Farmed Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Aquaculture is becoming a strategic sector for many national economies to supply the increasing demand for fish from consumers. Fish culture conditions and processing operations can lead to an increase in microbial contamination of farmed fish that may shorten the shelf-life of fish products and byproducts, and ready-to-eat fishery products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary status of water, environment, and processing of fresh-farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets produced in a local fish farm in Andalusia, Spain. To achieve this, a longitudinal study was carried out by collecting environmental (air and food-contact surfaces), water from fish ponds, and rainbow trout samples. Thereby, seven sampling visits were performed between February 2021 and July 2022, where foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms, together with physicochemical parameters, were analysed in the collected samples. Further, microbial identification of microbiota was achieved through a culture-dependent technique using blast analysis of 16S RNA gene sequencing. The results showed that Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella were not detected in the analysed samples. Regarding the hygienic-sanitary status of the fish farm, the slaughtering bath, the eviscerating machine and the outlet water from fish ponds presented the highest counts of coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae, and Aerobic Mesophilic Bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and sulphite-reducing Clostridium were identified in the conveyor belts, fish flesh, and viscera. The 16S RNA identification confirmed the presence of viable spoilage bacteria such as Citrobacter gillenii, Macrococcus caseolyticus, Hafnia paralvei, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Morganella morganii, and Shewanella. Three of these genera (Citrobacter, Hafnia, and Pseudomonas) were present in all types of samples analysed. The results evidenced potential transmission of microbial contamination from contaminated packaging belts and boxes, evisceration and filleting machines to flesh and viscera samples, thus the establishment of control measures should be implemented in fish farm facilities to extend the shelf-life of farmed fishery products.

Evaluation of factors affecting plate waste of inpatients in different healthcare settings.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Satisfaction of inpatients with served food within a hospital care system still constitutes one of the main attempts to modernize food services. The impact of type of menu, food category, hospital centre and timetable on the meals wastage produced in different Spanish healthcare settings, was evaluated. METHODS: Meal wastage was measured through a semiquantitative 5-point scale ("nothing on plate"; "» on plate"; "half on plate"; "¾ on plate" and "all on plate"). The study was carried out in two periods of three months each in 2010 and 2011. A trained person took charge of measuring plate waste classified into 726 servings belonging to 11 menus. In total 31,392 plates were served to 7,868 inpatients. A Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test (p < 0.05) was applied to evaluate significant differences among the variables studied. RESULTS: The menus were satisfactorily consumed because more than 50% of the plates were classified as "nothing on plate". Regarding food categories, 26.78% of the plates corresponded to soups and purées, while pasta and rice, and prepared foods were only distributed in 4-5% of the servings. Desserts were mostly consumed, while cooked vegetables were less accepted by the inpatients evaluated. Other factors such as hospital centre influenced plate waste (p < 0.05) but timetable did not (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Visual inspections of plate waste might be useful to optimize type and quality of menus served. The type of menu served and the food category could have a great influence on food acceptability by the inpatients studied.

Introducción/objetivos: La satisfacción de los pacientes con el servicio de comidas continúa siendo uno de los principales retos dirigidos a la modernización de los sistemas de distribución de alimentos. En el presente estudio se evaluó el impacto del tipo de hospital, horario, categoría de alimento y tipo de menú sobre el desecho de comida producido en diferentes recintos hospitalarios espAÑOles. Métodos: El desecho de alimentos se midió a través de una escala semi-cuantitativa con 5 niveles para evaluar la aceptabilidad del alimento («nada en plato¼ «» en plato¼ «mitad en plato¼ «¾ en plato¼ y «todo en plato¼). El estudio se llevó a cabo en dos periodos de tres meses cada uno durante 2010 y 2011. Una persona entrenada se encargó del pesaje de platos, los cuales se clasificaron en 726 servicios pertenecientes a 11 menús diferentes. En total, se sirvieron 31.392 platos a 7.868 pacientes. Como prueba estadística se utilizó un test estadístico no paramétrico de Kruskal-Wallis (p < 0,05). Resultados: Los menús se consumieron de forma satisfactoria ya que más del 50% de los platos se clasificaron dentro de la categoría «nada en plato¼. Con respecto a las categorías de alimento, un 26,78% de los platos servidos se correspondieron con sopas y purés, mientras que los platos de pasta, arroz y alimentos listos para el consumo fueron distribuidos en un 4-5% de los servicios. Los postres fueron los platos más consumidos, mientras que los vegetales hervidos fueron menos aceptados. Otros factores como el tipo de hospital influyeron sobre el desecho de alimentos (p < 0,05) aunque el horario de servicio de comidas no (p > 0,05). Conclusión: La inspección visual del desecho de alimentos puede ser útil a la hora de optimizar el tipo y calidad de los menús servidos. El tipo de menú y la categoría de alimento podrían tener una gran influencia sobre la aceptabilidad de los platos por los pacientes.

Evaluation of factors affecting plate waste of inpatients in different healthcare settings / Evaluación de factores influyentes sobre el desecho de alimentos por parte de pacientes procedentes de diferentes recintos hospitalarios

Introduction/aims: Satisfaction of inpatients with served food within a hospital care system still constitutes one of the main attempts to modernize food services. The impact of type of menu, food category, hospital centre and timetable on the meals wastage produced in different Spanish healthcare settings, was evaluated. Methods: Meal wastage was measured through a semiquantitative 5-point scale ("nothing on plate"; "¼ on plate"; "half on plate"; "¾ on plate" and "all on plate"). The study was carried out in two periods of three months each in 2010 and 2011. A trained person took charge of measuring plate waste classified into 726 servings belonging to 11 menus. In total 31,392 plates were served to 7,868 inpatients. A Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test (P < 0.05) was applied to evaluate significant differences among the variables studied. Results: The menus were satisfactorily consumed because more than 50% of the plates were classified as "nothing on plate". Regarding food categories, 26.78% of the plates corresponded to soups and purées, while pasta and rice, and prepared foods were only distributed in 45% of the servings. Desserts were mostly consumed, while cooked vegetables were less accepted by the inpatients evaluated. Other factors such as hospital centre influenced plate waste (P < 0.05) but timetable did not (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Visual inspections of plate waste might be useful to optimize type and quality of menus served. The type of menu served and the food category could have a great influence on food acceptability by the inpatients studied (AU)

Introducción/objetivos: La satisfacción de los pacientes con el servicio de comidas continúa siendo uno de los principales retos dirigidos a la modernización de los sistemas de distribución de alimentos. En el presente estudio se evaluó el impacto del tipo de hospital, horario, categoría de alimento y tipo de menú sobre el desecho de comida producido en diferentes recintos hospitalarios españoles. Métodos: El desecho de alimentos se midió a través de una escala semicuantitativa con 5 niveles para evaluar la aceptabilidad del alimento ("nada en plato"; "¼ en plato"; "mitad en plato"; "¾ en plato" y "todo en plato"). El estudio se llevó a cabo en dos periodos de tres meses cada uno durante 2010 y 2011. Una persona entrenada se encargó del pesaje de platos, los cuales se clasificaron en 726 servicios pertenecientes a 11 menús diferentes. En total, se sirvieron 31.392 platos a 7.868 pacientes. Como prueba estadística se utilizó un test estadístico no paramétrico de Kruskal-Wallis (P < 0,05). Resultados: Los menús se consumieron de forma satisfactoria ya que más del 50% de los platos se clasificaron dentro de la categoría "nada en plato". Con respecto a las categorías de alimento, un 26,78% de los platos servidos se correspondieron con sopas y purés, mientras que los platos de pasta, arroz y alimentos listos para el consumo fueron distribuidos en un 4-5% de los servicios. Los postres fueron los platos más consumidos, mientras que los vegetales hervidos fueron menos aceptados. Otros factores como el tipo de hospital influyeron sobre el desecho de alimentos (P < 0,05) aunque el horario de servicio de comidas no (P > 0,05). Conclusión: La inspección visual del desecho de alimentos puede ser útil a la hora de optimizar el tipo y calidad de los menús servidos. El tipo de menú y la categoría de alimento podrían tener una gran influencia sobre la aceptabilidad de los platos por los pacientes (AU)

Effect of pre-incubation conditions on growth and survival of Staphylococcus aureus in sliced cooked chicken breast.

In this work, the effect of pre-incubation conditions (temperature: 10, 15, 37 °C; pH 5.5, 6.5 and water activity, a(w): 0.997, 0.960) was evaluated on the subsequent growth, survival and enterotoxin production (SE) of Staphylococcus aureus in cooked chicken breast incubated at 10 and 20 °C. Results showed the ability of S. aureus to survive at 10 °C when pre-incubated at low a(w) (0.960) what could constitute a food risk if osmotic stressed cells of S. aureus which form biofilms survive on dried surfaces, and they are transferred to cooked meat products by cross-contamination. Regarding growth at 20 °C, cells pre-incubated at pH 5.5 and a(w) 0.960 had a longer lag phase and a slower maximum growth rate. On the contrary, it was highlighted that pre-incubation at optimal conditions (37 °C/pH 6.5/a(w) 0.997) produced a better adaptation and a faster growth in meat products what would lead to a higher SE production. These findings can support the adoption of management strategies and preventive measures in food industries leading to avoid growth and SE production in meat products.