title: Ribotyping and a study of transmission of Staphylococcus aureus collected from food preparation facilities.
abstract: Food poisoning from Staphylococcus aureus is sometimes caused by improper handling of food items in food preparation facilities. Prevention of contamination by employees is particularly important in facilities where a significant amount of food preparation is performed by hand. Some experiments have been performed to describe bacterial cross-contamination in the food preparation process, but there have been few studies of cross-contamination in actual food preparation facilities. Aiming to shed light on the transmission of S. aureus in food preparation facilities, this study collected samples of 66 strains of this bacterium from the fingers of food preparation staff, foodstuffs, prepared foods, cooking utensils, and cooking equipment and typed them with the ribotyping method. S. aureus from the same ribogroup was detected on the hands of a study participant, a faucet, knife, frying pan, and a salad, indicating that bacteria found on the hands of the study participant was transmitted to cooking utensils and prepared foods. Transmission (from a faucet to a frying pan handle) of bacteria by another person, a third party, was also detected.
authors.affiliation: Nagoya College of Nutrition, 1-9-6 Shinsakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-0007, Japan. mkishi@nsc.nakanishi.ac.jp
authors.forename: Michiru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hioki
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okano
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Konuma
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takamizawa
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kashio
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kasuga
mesh_terms: D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000592:standards*; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D021521:Ribotyping; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*