This study investigated the eggs of Polish-bred edible snails of the Cornu genus as a food and aimed to determine the presence of microorganisms in them of the Salmonella and Listeria genera and ascertain the number of coagulase-positive staphylococci. Raw material, semi-finished products, and the final product were collected during the production cycle. Testing for the presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. and measuring of the pathogenic staphylococci contamination level were carried out in accordance with ISO standards. Commercial biochemical tests were used for species identification of bacteria of the Enterobacteriaceae family and Staphylococcus genus. An API kit and a PCR protocol were utilised for species confirmation of the microorganisms of the Listeria genus. Neither Salmonella nor coagulase-positive staphylococci were found in any of the studied material. Bacteria of the Listeria genus were found in samples taken at every stage of production; however L. monocytogenes was confirmed in samples of the final product. The absence of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in samples of the final product indicates that the required hygiene standard was maintained in the production process of edible snail eggs. Nevertheless, the presence of L. monocytogenes in eggs of common garden snails may pose a potential risk to consumer health.

The organic food sector and consumer interest in organic products are growing continuously. The safety and quality of such products must be at least equal to those of conventional equivalents, but attaining the same standards requires overcoming a particular problem identified in organic food production systems: the occurrence of bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and pathogenic Escherichia coli. These food-borne microorganisms were detected in the production environments of such food. The prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in organic livestock and products may be higher, but may also be the same as or lower than in like material from conventional farms. Furthermore, the incidence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria was more often detected in conventional than in organic production. The aim of this review was to present the recent information on the microbiological safety of food of animal origin produced from raw materials from organic farms.