[Current problems in the microbiological control of food].
The paper deals with a number of aspects of current interest and significance on the subject of the microbiological testing of food with particular reference to the role of research institutes. The main objectives of microbiological testing of food are essentially two: (i) to establish the absence of a human health hazard due to microbial contamination of food (food safety); and (ii) to define the quality standard of food (food quality). As far as the first of these objectives is concerned, the outcome of the assay necessarily emerges not only from identification of pathogens but also from definition of their pathogenicity and virulence characteristics and of critical factors for their transmission. Alongside the classic pathogens, evidence has recently been found indicating that four additional bacteria, namely Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter jejuni, Vibrio cholerae non 0-1 and Listeria monocytogenes, also play an important role in food-borne disease. The most characteristic biological, ecological and epidemiologic aspects related to human food-borne disease are described for these bacteria. As regards the second objective, i.e. food quality, stress is laid on the role played by microbial indicators and their predictivity for pathogenic micro-organisms, which does not always exist. This depends on three basic differential factors: (i) biological characteristics giving rise to different diffusion, dilution and extinction phenomena, or, on the other hand, multiplication of such pathogens in the environment and in food; (ii) resistance to the natural inactivation mechanisms, whether of a general or specific nature, of each alimentary substrate; and (iii) the ecological and epidemiological pattern. By way of examples, two experiences indicating the lack of predictivity of the faecal indicators for enterovirus and Vibrio cholerae non 0-1 are reported. Nevertheless, standard microbiological testing for mesophilic flora and indicators are fundamental instruments in the analysis of food quality at all stages of production (supply of raw materials, good manufacturing practices, characteristics of the product during shelf life), and this type of testing, when performed by industrial-scale food producers, may guarantee a high standard of food quality and its progressive improvement.
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D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008087:Listeria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000302:isolation & purification
Moderne problematiche del controllo microbiologico degli alimenti.