Risk Factors for Salmonella, Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli and Campylobacter Occurrence in Primary Production of Leafy Greens and Strawberries

Siele Ceuppens, Gro S. Johannessen, Ana Allende, Eduardo César Tondo, Fouad El-Tahan, Imca Sampers, Liesbeth Jacxsens and Mieke Uyttendaele
Additional contact information
Siele Ceuppens: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation (LFMFP), Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
Gro S. Johannessen: Norwegian Veterinary Institute, P.O. Box 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway
Ana Allende: Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Foods, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Eduardo César Tondo: Laboratório de Microbiologia e Controle de Alimentos, Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (ICTA/UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Prédio 43212, Campus do Vale, Agronomia, Cep. 91501-970 Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil
Fouad El-Tahan: Royal International Inspection Laboratories (RIIL), Suez 43111, Egypt
Imca Sampers: Laboratory of Food Microbiology & Biotechnology, Department of Industrial Biological Sciences, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium
Liesbeth Jacxsens: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation (LFMFP), Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
Mieke Uyttendaele: Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation (LFMFP), Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-23

Abstract: The microbiological sanitary quality and safety of leafy greens and strawberries were assessed in the primary production in Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Norway and Spain by enumeration of Escherichia coli and detection of Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and Campylobacter . Water samples were more prone to containing pathogens (54 positives out of 950 analyses) than soil (16/1186) and produce on the field (18/977 for leafy greens and 5/402 for strawberries). The prevalence of pathogens also varied markedly according to the sampling region. Flooding of fields increased the risk considerably, with odds ratio (OR) 10.9 for Salmonella and 7.0 for STEC. A significant association between elevated numbers of generic E. coli and detection of pathogens (OR of 2.3 for STEC and 2.7 for Salmonella ) was established. Generic E. coli was found to be a suitable index organism for Salmonella and STEC, but to a lesser extent for Campylobacter . Guidelines on frequency of sampling and threshold values for E. coli in irrigation water may differ from region to region.

Keywords: primary production; E.coli; index; climate; logistic regression; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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