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

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Jeanne-Marie MEMBRÉ and Nabila HADDAD

SECALIM, INRAE, Oniris, Nantes, France

Contamination of food with microbial agents is a global public health problem. Microbial hazards in food include bacteria such as Salmonella , viruses such as norovirus, parasites such as trematodes and also prions. Diarrheal diseases are the most common diseases resulting from the consumption of contaminated food and are the cause of 550 million illnesses and 230,000 deaths each year (WHO 2020). Hazard identification serves to establish whether the hazard is probable or actual in the food product and to document important known information about the relationships and interactions between the hazard, the food and the host, and also their relationship to human disease. Given that a wide range of microbiological hazards can cause foodborne illness, hazard identification should determine whether a potential hazard is realistic for the food product concerned (FAO and WHO 2020).

Epidemiological data from disease surveillance programs or investigations of food-borne outbreaks are often the first clearly documented indications of a food safety issue associated with a pathogen causing adverse effects. Food contamination surveillance data, along with product and process assessments, can help identify combinations of hazards and foods. Evidence from these sources is usually quantitative (i.e. it includes information on the concentration or number of units of the hazard in the food) and may also provide information that feeds into other stages of microbiological risk assessment, such as exposure assessment and/or establishment of a dose–response relationship. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly used for the surveillance of foodborne pathogens, the investigation of epidemics and the search for the sources of contamination throughout the food supply chain (Rantsiou et al. 2018).

That being said, the epidemiological data must be cross-referenced with product knowledge, in other words its formulation, its process, its distribution channel and the way it is used by the consumer, before conclusions can be drawn on the relevant hazards. Finally, the behavior of the hazard in the food, in other words its ability to multiply, its resistance to stress and its survival, or its inactivation, is the third key element to be taken into account in hazard identification. ( Figure 1.1). We will return later in the chapter to these different types of data and their cross-use.

Figure.1.1. Structuring of information essential to hazard identification. Created with BioRender.com

Hazard identification is the first stage in risk assessment. It is therefore often carried out by health agencies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Europe or ANSES in France when these agencies are seeking to clarify an action or a decision relating to food safety.

However, hazard identification is also implemented by companies, or more precisely by companies’ quality departments, when they are setting up their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems. The HACCP system is a methodology that identifies, assesses and helps control hazards that have significance for food safety (Membré 2014). The HACCP system is a preventive operation, specific to a manufacturing unit, which begins with the purchase of raw materials, ingredients and packaging materials, follows the entire production process and ends at the finished product, ready for consumption. The HACCP system is based on seven principles, the first being “carry out a hazard analysis”. This first principle includes hazard identification. Conducting this identification should be assigned to a highly qualified team with proven skills in food microbiology.

The WHO and the FAO have listed the various types of data that can be used in hazard identification (FAO and WHO 2020), along with their benefits and drawbacks. Their main conclusions are summed up in Table 1.1.

The data cited by the WHO and FAO can be categorized according to their origin (whether they have been obtained from the scientific literature or from surveillance) and nature (epidemiological studies, prevalence and concentrations, early warning, toxi-infection, public health).

Food safety agencies provide professionals in the agrifood sector with factsheets describing biological hazards transmissible through food. These factsheets are updated regularly and are available online; they can also provide useful information for hazard identification. By way of example:

– ANSES’ factsheets are available in French at https://www.anses.fr/fr/content/fiches-de-dangers-biologiques-transmissibles-par-les-aliments;

– Canadian factsheets are available at https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-publique/services/biosecurite-biosurete-laboratoire/fiches-techniques-sante-securite-agents-pathogenes-evaluation-risques.html.

Table 1.1. The various types of data that can be used in hazard identification (FAO and WHO 2020)

In parallel with composing hazard factsheets, ANSES has begun detailed work on source attribution (ANSES 2017a, 2018), which can also be used as a documentary source for hazard identification. Source attribution involves quantifying the relative share of various sources in the burden of infectious diseases transmitted through food (ANSES 2017a). It seeks to allocate the number of cases of infectious diseases transmitted by food to the various sources. Sources include: