Quantification of Campylobacter jejuni cross-contamination via hands, cutlery, and cutting board during preparation of a chicken fruit salad.
Using artificially contaminated chicken, the quantitative overall effect of Campylobacter jejuni cross-contamination, either via cutlery, cutting board, or hands, on the microbiological quality of a chicken salad was tested to identify the most critical transfer route. The end contamination level of salads prepared according to different scenarios, with or without cross-contamination, was compared. It was shown that the mean transfer rate calculated for all salads prepared allowing cross-contamination was 0.12% of the initial number of C. jejuni on the chicken fillet (8.8 +/- 0.2 log CFU). The difference in calculated transfer rates for the tested cross-contamination routes was not significantly different (P > 0.05). The prevention of cross-contamination by replacing cutlery and cutting board after handling raw chicken and the prevention of hand contact resulted in considerably reduced end contamination levels (< 2.4 log CFU) or noncontaminated end products. The results of this study emphasize the importance of preventing cross-contamination during food handling in reducing the risks of foodborne infections, and they provide useful data for quantitative microbiological risk assessment.
Verhoeff-Bakkenes
L
L
Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Beumer
R R
RR
de Jonge
R
R
van Leusden
F M
FM
de Jong
A E I
AE
D000818:Animals; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D011202:Poultry Products / Q000382:microbiology*