Four-year monitoring of foodborne pathogens in raw milk sold by vending machines in Italy.
Prevalence data were collected from official microbiological records monitoring four selected foodborne pathogens (Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Campylobacter jejuni) in raw milk sold by self-service vending machines in seven Italian regions (60,907 samples from 1,239 vending machines) from 2008 to 2011. Data from samples analyzed by both culture-based and real-time PCR methods were collected in one region. One hundred raw milk consumers in four regions were interviewed while purchasing raw milk from vending machines. One hundred seventy-eight of 60,907 samples were positive for one of the four foodborne pathogens investigated: 18 samples were positive for Salmonella, 83 for L. monocytogenes, 24 for E. coli O157:H7, and 53 for C. jejuni in the seven regions investigated. No significant differences in prevalence were found among regions, but a significant increase in C. jejuni prevalence was observed over the years of the study. A comparison of the two analysis methods revealed that real-time PCR was 2.71 to 9.40 times more sensitive than the culture-based method. Data on consumer habits revealed that some behaviors may enhance the risk of infection linked to raw milk consumption: 37% of consumers did not boil milk before consumption, 93% never used an insulated bag to transport raw milk home, and raw milk was consumed by children younger than 5 years of age. These results emphasize that end-product controls alone are not sufficient to guarantee an adequate level of consumer protection. The beta distribution of positive samples in this study and the data on raw milk consumer habits will be useful for the development of a national quantitative risk assessment of Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157, and C. jejuni infection associated with raw milk consumption.
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy.
Federica
F
Giacometti
Paolo
P
Bonilauri
Andrea
A
Serraino
Angelo
A
Peli
Simonetta
S
Amatiste
Norma
N
Arrigoni
Manila
M
Bianchi
Stefano
S
Bilei
Giuseppe
G
Cascone
Damiano
D
Comin
Paolo
P
Daminelli
Lucia
L
Decastelli
Mattia
M
Fustini
Renzo
R
Mion
Annalisa
A
Petruzzelli
Roberto
R
Rosmini
Gianluca
G
Rugna
Marco
M
Tamba
Franco
F
Tonucci
Giuseppe
G
Bolzoni
D000818:Animals; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002417:Cattle; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005509:Food Dispensers, Automatic; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification