Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Summer 2020

This article reviews the role and importance of food systems during the COVID-19 outbreak, the impact of this pandemic on the food industry and chain, and examining the methods and possibilities of using cold plasma technology to deal with this pandemic. Since food plays an essential role in human health as an integral part of human life, food safety is critical in such cases. It is essential to adopt practical strategies in controlling the COVID-19 crisis. In the current situation, several methods are used to disinfect and control the spread of disease, some of which are ineffective and can also have problems and limitations. Therefore, emerging technologies such as cold plasma (CP) technology can help facilitate the control process and reduce pandemics. The capabilities of this method are disinfection of food, equipment, production surfaces, and indoor with poorly ventilated spaces of SARS‐CoV‐2 through aerosol microdroplets, which can remain in the air for a long time; such as public transportation, production lines, and restaurants where the possibility of transmitting the SARS‐CoV‐2 is high. On the one hand, this review summarizes all available data related to cold plasma technology as an emerging technology to inactivate SARS‐CoV‐2. It then gives us a brief explanation of the role and importance of the food industry and food supply chain during the pandemic.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a pathogen that is enteropathogenic and/or toxic to human health. In addition, it is also a food safety indicator and an indicator of sanitary conditions for food of animal origin. This study aims to quantify E. coli in consumptive eggs in chicken coops around the Agricultural State Polytechnic of Payakumbuh University campus. A total of 30 samples of eggs consumed for food were taken from 5 cooperatives around the campus of the Agricultural State Polytechnic of Payakumbuh. Testing the amount of E. coli in eggs using the total bacterial count (TPC) method, the average E. coli count was 1.9 x 106 cfu/mL. The existence of E. coli illustrates the contamination of chicken eggs from laying hens around the campus Agricultural State Polytechnic of Payakumbuh, the need to maintain sanitation and biosecurity measures in keeping laying hens so that they produce eggs that are safe and sound suitable for community consumption.

Street vended foods have gained a lot of popularity in recent days owing to their appealing taste and flavour. These foods apart from the taste and flavour, have been cost-effective and easily available for all people. That has been the reason for such high demand for these foods in all walks of life and are being relished by the populations from the rural to urban areas. Street foods have been satisfying the hunger of a good percentage of people at an affordable cost. On the other side of the situation, these foods have been posing a good risk of health problems for the people because of the unhygienic methods and process of preparation of these foods by the mostly illiterate community of businessmen who have been preparing them. Hence the need of evaluating these foods for the contamination levels and risk factors for human health have been exponentially felt and the present study was taken up. Therefore, the present study was carried out to check the microbiological quality of street vended panipuri sold in Korutla, Metpally, and Jagtial towns of Jagtial Dist, Telangana state. A total of ninety-six samples viz., water, dall and kachori (thirty two each) were aseptically collected from various vendors and were subjected for standard plate count, total Coliform count, total Salmonella count and total Staphylococcus aureus count. Results revealed that 74% of samples had high loads of bacterial pathogens such as Escherichia coli (41%), Staphylococcus aureus (31%), sp. (20%), Pseudomonas sp. (5%) and yeast (3%). Hence it has been enumerated that the quality of street foods must be monitored, and standards of the microbiological load have to be followed for human health safety.

Fruits are important parts of our daily diet to maintain a healthy life as they have potential nutritional values. But unfortunately, a number of foodborne diseases have been noticed due to the consumption of raw and contaminated fruits. The present study was carried out to isolate the pathogenic microorganisms from fruits sample and to determine the effects of some household cleaning methods including washing and various common chemical treatments for the removal of bacterial load. A conventional spread plate technique was performed for the detection of bacteria. Total heterotrophic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus spp. Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were found in 30 samples of 6 categories including Java apple (Syzygium cumini), Carambola (Averrhoa carambola), Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), Olive (Olea europaea) Koromcha (Carissa carandas) and Pear (Pyrus). Tap water, hot water (50°C), 100mg/L sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 50 mg/L calcium lactate, 4% acetic acid and 2ml /L CleanAva were used as decontaminating agents. All samples were soaked in tested cleaning agents for 20 min at room temperature. All the tested solutions were found to be effective and reduced bacterial loads in fruits compared to the unwashed fruits samples (p<0.01). It was revealed, NaOCl, calcium lactate, acetic acid and CleanAva were more effective cleaning agents than water wash. Two to three log of the bacterial load was reduced when samples were subjected to treatment with decontaminating agents. Potable water, the types and concentration of the disinfectant solutions are important parameters for effective washing.

Scombroid fish poisoning (SFP) is an acute illness caused by the consumption of poorly preserved fish containing high levels of histamine. Symptoms develop within 1-2 h, with gastrointestinal, dermatologic, and cardiopulmonary manifestations. The diagnosis relies exclusively on the clinical picture. To describe an onsite clinical-epidemiological study of a massive outbreak of SFP occurring in Chile. A descriptive study of an outbreak occurring in a closed Convention Center after lunch with Chilean Palometa or Seriola lalandi (Yellowtail kingfish). An Onsite questionnaire was answered by all attendants within 24 h. Local health officials supervised the place with a second survey and sample recollection of suspected fish. Eighty-three adults attended the event, of which 81 ate fish. Mean age: 58.5 years old, 82.7% women. The symptomatic attack rate of people eating suspected poisoned fish was 79% (64 out of 81 participants). Most common symptoms included: diarrhea (68%); headache (64%); flushing (64%) and diffuse redness (56%). Mean incubation period: 77 min (30-240 min). 98.4% of patients recovered within 10 h. Ten patients were referred to the emergency room, but none were admitted. There was a presumption of loss of refrigeration in the handling of fish, and confirmation of SFP by clinical basis, incubation period and attack rate. Fish was the only food item associated with illness (Odds ratio: 19, p = 0.014; Fisher two tails). This is one of the 5 largest outbreaks of SFP with fresh fish, ever reported in the literature. The clinical picture and rapid onset of symptoms made it possible to suspect SFP allowing timely management of patients. It is relevant to spread the knowledge about this underdiagnosed and underreported syndrome.

Milk and dairy products play an important role in the human diet and society's health. The aim of this study was the assessment of the microbial quality of industrial and traditional breakfast cream in Alborz province, Iran. In this study, 40 different samples of breakfast cream (20 samples of traditional breakfast cream and 20 samples of industrial pasteurized breakfast cream) were collected randomly in Alborz province in 2018. Microbial quality tests were performed according to Iran National Standards on Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus, and then the collected data were analyzed. The microbiological examinations revealed that 43% of the samples were contaminated with coliform bacteria that 12 samples (60%) out of 20 samples of traditional cream, 5 samples (25%) out of 20 samples of industrial cream were higher than the allowable microbial limit of the national standard of Iran. About 15% of samples of traditional creams and 10% of industrial creams were contaminated with Escherichia coli. 10% of samples of traditional cream were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, which was not observed in industrial creams. High contamination with bacteria, needs using different methods to control microbial growth, including the promotion of sanitary awareness among laborers, the codification of microbial standards for traditional dairy products, training to staff for preparing the cream and disinfection of tools.