Jeanne-Marie Membre - Microbiological Risk Assessment Associated with the Food Processing and Distribution Chain

LS9_8 Biohazards (including biological containment, biosafety, biosecurity)

Jeanne-Marie MEMBRÉ

SECALIM, INRAE, Oniris, Nantes, France

There are a number of food-associated hazards that can cause harm to human health. Chemicals used in agriculture, environmental pollutants and pathogenic bacteria are all examples of hazards that can ultimately end up on the consumer’s plate and in some cases harm their health.

Food safety standards, the development of which began more than 20 years ago, are used to confront these hazards, with their basis in a formal process called “risk analysis”. Risk analysis consists of three separate elements: risk assessment, risk management and risk communication.

Three volumes on the subject of Food Safety make it possible to articulate this link between food safety and risk analysis. They have been created by Jeanne-Marie Membré and Thierry Bénézech, with the assistance of Nabila Haddad, and published by ISTE Ltd and Wiley in the SCIENCES series:

1 – the volume coordinated by Nabila Haddad covers both chemical and microbiological hazards: Haddad, N. (2022), Hazards in the Food Processing and Distribution Chain;

2 – the volume coordinated by Thierry Bénézech and Christine Faille deals with risk management and focuses on microbiological risks: Bénézech, T. and Faille, C. (2022), Control: Preventing the Biological Risks Associated with Food Contamination During Processing/Distribution and Consumer Usage;

3 – this volume, coordinated by Jeanne-Marie Membré, completes the series. It is entitled Microbiological Risk Assessment Associated with the Food Processing and Distribution Chain.

Jeanne-Marie MEMBRÉ

SECALIM, INRAE, Oniris, Nantes, France

I would first of all like to thank Gilles Trystram and Jack Legrand, who entrusted the joint coordination of the topic of Food Safety to me, together with Thierry Bénézech, and also the publishers and their support team.

I would next like to thank Thierry Bénézech and Nabila Haddad, who assisted me in preparing the three volumes on this topic. A big thank you, too, to the authors of the various chapters, without whom this work would not have been possible.

Finally, all my thanks to Marie-France Pilet, director of SECALIM, the INRAE research unit within which I work, who allowed me the time needed to bring this coordination/editorial project to successful fruition.

Jeanne-Marie MEMBRÉ

SECALIM, INRAE, Oniris, Nantes, France

Food safety is the guarantee that food is harmless, in other words that its consumption will have no adverse consequences for health. As we are reminded by the World Health Organization (WHO), food safety encompasses all the measures taken to provide food that is as safe as possible, and hence the policies and measures applied must relate to the entire food chain, from production to consumption.

Ensuring a safe food supply poses major food safety challenges for public authorities (FAO and WHO 2006). Changing global patterns of food production, international trade, the emergence of new technologies, public expectations in terms of health protection and many other factors have created an increasingly demanding environment in which food safety must operate ( Figure I.1).

There are a number of food-associated risks that can cause harm to human health. Chemicals used in agriculture, environmental pollutants and pathogenic bacteria are all examples of hazards that can ultimately end up on the consumer’s plate and in some cases harm their health.

The first estimates of the global and regional burden of foodborne diseases, published by the WHO in December 2015 (WHO 2015), show that this burden is significant all over the world. Every year around the world, 1 in 10 people fall ill from eating contaminated food and 420,000 die from it, nearly a third of whom are children under the age of 5. The hazards responsible for these foodborne illnesses include bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and chemicals. More specifically, diarrheal diseases are responsible for 550 million cases and 230,000 deaths per year. Children are particularly susceptible, with 220 million cases and 96,000 deaths per year. Diarrhea is often caused by eating raw or undercooked meat, eggs, fresh produce and/or dairy produce.

Figure I.1. Factors influencing the evolution of food safety. From the FAO and WHO (2006)

In Europe, more than 23 million people fall ill each year after consuming contaminated food, resulting in 5,000 deaths (WHO 2017). Still in Europe, the most common causes of foodborne diseases are noroviruses, followed by Campylobacter spp. Non-typhoid Salmonella spp. are responsible for the majority of deaths. We will review these three microbiological hazards below.

One of the most common causes of gastroenteritis in humans worldwide is human norovirus, and specifically genogroup 2 noroviruses. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting (including projectile vomiting) and stomach pains. The virus can be transmitted to humans through the ingestion of contaminated food or water and directly from person to person, leading to infection in a relatively large proportion of those exposed.

Estimates by the WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) show that, worldwide, norovirus is linked to about 20% of all foodborne illnesses caused by diarrheal disease hazards (125 million per year). It is the most common cause of diarrheal disease for all ages and in all risk groups, with the most serious outcomes being seen in young children and the elderly. Norovirus infection is the sixth leading cause of diarrheal death in children under 5 and the second leading cause of diarrheal death in children over 5, with similar trends in all regions of the world.

According to a study by ANSES (2018), in France, over the period 2006–2015, the main foods associated with outbreaks of collective food toxi-infections related to norovirus were mollusks (72%) and, in particular, oysters (usually consumed raw in France). Composite dishes were implicated in 10% of norovirus outbreaks. The other food categories (meat, fish, vegetables and egg products) were of equal significance and accounted for a total of 18% of outbreaks.

Campylobacter spp. are a major cause of foodborne diarrheal disease. Infection with Campylobacter is usually acquired by consuming contaminated foods such as undercooked poultry and raw milk; contaminated broiler meat is considered the most significant source of this hazard to humans.

According to a study by ANSES (2018), in France, over the period 2006–2015, the main food categories identified at the time of Campylobacter outbreaks were meats (67%) and composite dishes (18%). Poultry was implicated in 71% of the outbreaks caused by meat. The composite dishes were basically sandwiches, mixed salads and ready-cooked meals. Eggs and egg products, milk and milk products and water accounted for a total of 9% of outbreaks.

Death from campylobacteriosis is rare and is usually limited to very young or elderly patients or those suffering from another serious illness such as AIDS. Complications such as bacteremia, hepatitis, pancreatitis and miscarriage have all been reported with varying frequency. Post-infection complications can include reactive arthritis, which can last for several months, and neurological disorders such as Guillain–Barré syndrome, a form of paralysis that can lead to severe respiratory and neurological dysfunction or death in a few cases.