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B01020 : A microbiological risk assessment of Listeria monocytogenes in cooked meat and poultry
Friday 30 April 2004
This research project aims to identify and quantify the risk to the consumer of Listeria moncytogenes infection and illness following the consumption of cooked meat and poultry.
Study Duration
: May 2001 to December 2004
Contractor
: Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association
Background
Listeria monocytogenes
is an environmental micro-organism that may contaminate a wide range of food stuffs including dairy, meat, poultry and vegetable products during food manufacturing.
The organism is able to grow at chill temperatures, low nutrient concentrations and survive for long periods.
It might survive in cooked products as a result of undercooking or be introduced after processing by cross-contamination from raw products or from the environment.
Consuming foods contaminated with high levels of
L. monocytogenes
can cause food poisoning, particularly in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and over 60s.
Conducting a microbiological risk assessment will enable an objective appraisal of the risk of infection and illness with
L. monocytogenes
.
It will identify which cooked meat and poultry products are a problem, which sections of the population are at greatest risk of illness and examine the relative merits of approaches to controlling and reducing risk.
Research Approach
The project will quantitatively describe the risk to the UK population from
L. monocytogenes
infection from cooked meats and poultry. It will:
-
Describe the risk to the population as a whole from all cooked meats and poultry
-
Identify sub-populations at risk
-
Identify the types of cooked meat and poultry presenting particular risks
-
Identify areas of the 'farm to fork' route which have particular influence on risk
-
Identify gaps in knowledge which restrict the value of the risk assessment
-
Provide support in communication of the conclusions
Results and findings
The main conclusions from this work were that:
-
Uncertainties around inputs (principally dose-response, microbiological growth models and domestic practices) were very large and impacted on the uncertainties associated with quantitative risk estimates.
-
Listeriosis rates were predicted to be 2 illnesses/million people/year with perinates and other high risk groups about 28 and 6 times higher respectively than the low risk group.
It was not possible to determine the proportion of listeriosis that was foodborne.
-
Input data showed that contamination levels were low at time of purchase and post-purchase growth of Listeria monocytogenes was required for it to become a significant risk.
The food properties were shown to have a significant impact on the risk of listeriosis.
-
The value of Listeria surveillance is limited by the high detection limit of quantitative models.
There is also little qualitative dose-response information and no reliable quantitative models on this aspect for Listeria monocytogenes.
-
These conclusions could have been reached without a formal MRA process but nevertheless the Microbiological Risk Assessment does give confidence in the results, and an appreciation of uncertainty and has identified information gaps.
select this link to view the (External)
Final Report for project B01020
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