Methods for Recovering Microorganisms from Solid Surfaces Used in the Food Industry: A Review of the Literature

Rached Ismaïl, Florence Aviat, Valérie Michel, Isabelle Le Bayon, Perrine Gay-Perret, Magdalena Kutnik and Michel Fédérighi
Additional contact information
Rached Ismaïl: LUNAM Université, Oniris, UMR1014 SECALIM, Nantes, F-44307, France
Florence Aviat: LUNAM Université, Oniris, UMR1014 SECALIM, Nantes, F-44307, France
Valérie Michel: ACTALIA, Produits laitiers, La Roche-sur-Foron, F-74801, France
Isabelle Le Bayon: FCBA, Bordeaux, F-33028, France
Perrine Gay-Perret: ACTALIA, Produits laitiers, La Roche-sur-Foron, F-74801, France
Magdalena Kutnik: FCBA, Bordeaux, F-33028, France
Michel Fédérighi: LUNAM Université, Oniris, UMR1014 SECALIM, Nantes, F-44307, France

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Various types of surfaces are used today in the food industry, such as plastic, stainless steel, glass, and wood. These surfaces are subject to contamination by microorganisms responsible for the cross-contamination of food by contact with working surfaces. The HACCP-based processes are now widely used for the control of microbial hazards to prevent food safety issues. This preventive approach has resulted in the use of microbiological analyses of surfaces as one of the tools to control the hygiene of products. A method of recovering microorganisms from different solid surfaces is necessary as a means of health prevention. No regulation exists for surface microbial contamination, but food companies tend to establish technical specifications to add value to their products and limit contamination risks. The aim of this review is to present the most frequently used methods: swabbing, friction or scrubbing, printing, rinsing or immersion, sonication and scraping or grinding and describe their advantages and drawbacks. The choice of the recovery method has to be suitable for the type and size of the surface tested for microbiological analysis. Today, quick and cheap methods have to be standardized and especially easy to perform in the field.

Keywords: wood; packaging; food contact; microorganisms; recovery methods; contamination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/11/6169/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/11/6169/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:11:p:6169-6183:d:30447

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().