Farm to fork impacts of super-shedders and high-event periods on food safety
2022
Castro, Vinicius Silva | Figueiredo, Eduardo | McAllister, Tim | Stanford, Kim
Microbiological control with the development of robust methodologies has been extensively studied in food science. However, equally important as reducing the microbial load is understanding the sources that led that food to be contaminated. In this sense, we approach in the present review two distinct events: (1) Super-shedding (SS), characterized by the high concentration of a pathogen in the animal's feces (above 10⁴ CFU/g); and (2) High Event Period (HEP) characterized by unexpectedly high contamination in a batch of meat at an abattoir, which may be localized or systemic. The aim of the present review is to explain the aspects involved in these events, bringing insights into the possible cause, and how they impact food production (with emphasis on beef and milk processing), and alternative strategies for microbial detection and inactivation. A microbial biofilm at the recto-anal junction of cattle is a likely cause of the SS event. In addition, the potential for biofilm formation seems to be a converging point between SS and HEP events, and results obtained by whole genome sequencing have demonstrated that a SS strain had the potential to form biofilm and genetic proximity to another strain involved in a food outbreak. Finally, investigation of the impacts of SS and HEP inside a production unit can define the critical control points that will have a direct impact on the reduction of contamination inside an abattoir or dairy.
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