Water and food are major environmental transmission routes for Cryptosporidium, but our ability to identify the spectrum of oocyst contributions in current performance-based methods is limited. Determining risks in water and foodstuffs, and the importance of zoonotic transmission, requires the use of molecular methods, which add value to performance-based morphologic methods. Multi-locus approaches increase the accuracy of identification, as many signatures detected in water originate from species/genotypes that are not infectious to humans. Method optimisation is necessary for detecting small numbers of oocysts in environmental samples consistently, and further work is required to (i) optimise IMS recovery efficiency, (ii) quality assure performance-based methods, (iii) maximise DNA extraction and purification, (iv) adopt standardised and validated loci and primers, (v) determine the species and subspecies range in samples containing mixtures, and standardising storage and transport matrices for validating genetic loci, primer sets and DNA sequences.

This study attempts to quantify climate-induced increases in morbidity rates associated with food- and water-borne illnesses in the context of an urban coastal city, taking Beirut-Lebanon as a study area. A Poisson generalized linear model was developed to assess the impacts of temperature on the morbidity rate. The model was used with four climatic scenarios to simulate a broad spectrum of driving forces and potential social, economic and technologic evolutions. The correlation established in this study exhibits a decrease in the number of illnesses with increasing temperature until reaching a threshold of 19.2°C, beyond which the number of morbidity cases increases with temperature. By 2050, the results show a substantial increase in food- and water-borne related morbidity of 16 to 28% that can reach up to 42% by the end of the century under A1FI (fossil fuel intensive development) or can be reversed to ~0% under B1 (lowest emissions trajectory), highlighting the need for early mitigation and adaptation measures.

This is a retrospective study describing data on the microbiological conditions of food and water obtained from analysis reports issued by the Central Laboratory of the Federal District (LACEN-DF), and information on foodborne disease outbreaks investigated by the Office of Water and Food Borne Diseases of the Federal District (NATHA), Brazil, between 2000 and 2010. A total of 4576 analysis reports were evaluated, from which 92.9% of monitoring samples and 7.1% of samples suspected to be involved in outbreaks. Of the total number of samples, 630 did not comply with Brazilian legislation (rejected). Ready-to-eat food, milk/dairy products, water, spices/seasonings, and ice cream/sorbets had the highest rejection rates among the monitoring samples (18.9–11%), with the first two groups having the highest rates among the outbreak samples (23.5 and 21.7%). Minas cheese showed to be the food with the highest rejection rate among the samples analyzed by the LACEN-DF. About 9% of the food samples were rejected due to thermotolerant coliforms and/or coagulase-positive staphylococci, and 10.5% of the water samples were rejected due to Pseudomona aeruginosa. Ready-to-eat food were the main foods involved in the foodborne disease outbreaks investigated by NATHA (51.3% of the 117 outbreaks with the food identified) and Bacillus cereus the most identified etiologic agent (41.2% of the 80 outbreaks with the agent identified). This study indicated that microbiological surveillance programs should focus on ready-to-eat food to prevent the occurrence of foodborne disease outbreaks in the region.

Biofilm formation on food contact surfaces is a potential hazard leading to cross-contamination during food processing. We investigated Listeria innocua biofilm formation on various food contact surfaces and compared the washing effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) at 30, 50, 70, and 120 ppm with that of 200 ppm of sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) on biofilm cells. The risk of L. innocua biofilm transfer and growth on food at retail markets was also investigated. The viability of biofilms that formed on food contact surfaces and then transferred cells to duck meat was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. L. innocua biofilm formation was greatest on rubber, followed by polypropylene, glass, and stainless steel. Regardless of sanitizer type, washing removed biofilms from polypropylene and stainless steel better than from rubber and glass. Among the various SAEW concentrations, washing with 70 ppm of SAEW for 5 min significantly reduced L. innocua biofilms on food contact surfaces during food processing. Efficiency of transfer of L. innocua biofilm cells was the highest on polypropylene and lowest on stainless steel. The transferred biofilm cells grew to the maximum population density, and the lag time of transferred biofilm cells was longer than that of planktonic cells. The biofilm cells that transferred to duck meat coexisted with live, injured, and dead cells, which indicates that effective washing is essential to remove biofilm on food contact surfaces during food processing to reduce the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks.