SEAC Unilever Information: Internal Use

Microbiological Safety of Foods: Critical pillar in national food safety capacity building

Nimish Shah DirectorSafety & Environmental Assurance CentreUnilever R&D, Bangalore#64, Main Road WhitefieldBangalore-560066

NagarajaAcharyaIS

Judith Fernandez-Piquer

AlejandroAmezquita

SEAC Unilever Information: Internal Use

Global Burden of Foodborne Illness(DALYS/ 100000 POPULATION) BY HAZARD GROUPS AND SUB-

REGION, 2010

WHO ESTIMATES OF THE GLOBAL BURDEN OF FOODBORNE DISEASESFOODBORNE DISEASE BURDEN EPIDEMIOLOGY REFERENCE GROUP 2007-2015

WHO 2015

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Korea, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal

Illnesses due to chemical contaminants

Illnesses due to Microbial pathogens

SEAC Unilever Information: Internal Use

Global Burden of Foodborne Disease BY SUB-REGION (DALYS PER 100 000 POPULATION) CAUSED BY ENTERIC

HAZARDS, 2010

WHO ESTIMATES OF THE GLOBAL BURDEN OF FOODBORNE DISEASESFOODBORNE DISEASE BURDEN EPIDEMIOLOGY REFERENCE GROUP 2007-2015

WHO 2015

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Korea, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal

SEAC Unilever Information: Internal Use

SEAC Unilever Information: Internal Use

Microbiological Safety of foods: Key areas of scientific capacity building

Global best practices for identification & characterization

Speed, precision and insights are actionable

FOODBORNE PATHOGENS

HEALTH SURVEILLANCE

Identification of critical health issues linked to foods – e.g. top 5 pathogens causing most illnesses (metrics -DALYs) for prioritization

DIGITAL / MODELING TOOLS

Risk based design of safe:• Formulations• Processes • Supply chain

FOOD HYGIENE

• Households• Serviced foods• Industry

PREDICTIVE

Risk-based food safety

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Some definitions

Hazard: An agent causing an adverse effect (microbe, toxin)

Exposure: Estimation of intake of hazard

Probability: Chance, likelihood (e.g. of hazard being present, of illness)

Severity: The extent of the adverse health effect on consumer

Risk: A combination of probability of occurrence and severity of

the adverse health effect

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Hazard versus risk

Hazard: Biological, chemical

or physical agent in, or

condition of, food with

potential to cause an adverse

health effect

Risk: A function of the

probability of an adverse health

effect and the severity of that

effect, consequential to a

hazard(s) in food.

http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/fox/vibrio-para-dk2.jpghttp://www.moneyhomeblog.com/how-can-a-high-risk-

merchant-accept-credit-cards/

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Evolution of food safety systems

Codex, FAO and WHO are driving a worldwide transition from hazard-based approaches in food safety management to an approach that is science and risk-based.

To

• Science and evidence-based• Risk-based decision-making• Acceptable risk policy• Food safety management by

industry (HACCP, GHP, GMP)• Quantitative performance-based

criteria• Internationally harmonised

standards (based on Codex principles)

From

• Expert opinion-based• Hazard-based decision-making• Zero-tolerance policy• Command and control (by

governments)• Non-transparent regulatory

goals and lack of standards• National standards

Microbial risk assessment for food safety

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Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA)

Aims:

Understand how food-borne risk arises and changes from

“farm-to-fork” to identify the best options (most

effective/feasible) for reducing the risk to acceptable levels

Measure risk to allocate public health protection resources

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MRA Structure

Exposure

Assessment:

human exposure

to the

microorganism/

toxin

Hazard

Characterisation:

evaluation of the

nature of the

adverse health

effect

Risk

Characterisation:

risk estimation

Hazard

Identification:

identification of

the

microorganism/

toxin

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MRA examples

MRA is performed

for pathogen and food combinations associated with food-borne illness (e.g. salmonellosis, listeriosis, etc.)

Listeria

monocytogenes

in RTE foods

Salmonella

in eggs

Campylobacter

in chicken

Escherichia coli

in meat products

Vibrio in seafood

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Where to find published examples of MRA?

http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/scientific-advice/jemra/risk-assessments/en/

Predictive microbiology for food safety

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What is predictive food microbiology?

Multidisciplinary area of food microbiology (food

microbiologists, statisticians, mathematicians, food

technologist, computing scientists)

Use of mathematical models to predict the effects of factors

(temperature, preservatives, water activity, pH etc.) on

bacterial behaviour

Extrinsic Temperature

Gaseous atmosphere ...

Intrinsic pH

Water activityPreservatives ...

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Main type of microbiological models

Growth (lag and/or growth

rate)

Inactivation Growth / No-Growth

Thermal Non-Thermal

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Predictive microbiology is a mature area of science

B. cereus inactivation modelhttp://www.combase.cc

1920s

1980s

L. monocytogenes growth no growth boundary depending on temperature

http://fssp.food.dtu.dk/

Salmonella spp growth no growth boundary depending on

temperature and awhttp://mrviewer.info/

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Predictive microbiology tools

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Most predictive microbiology tools are user-friendly

ComBase Predictorhttp://www.combase.cc

Food Spoilage and Safety Predictor

http://fssp.food.dtu.dk/

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Example: Safety by design in Unilever

Need: mild-taste, less acidic dressings

Product: no thermal processing, preservation system by design

Performance Criteria: 5-log reduction

Modelling approach: in-house Weibull model (Temp., pH, NaCl, acetic acid,

potassium sorbate)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 5 10 15 20 25

Time (days)

Lo

g C

FU

/ml

pH 3.8, NaCl: 9%

Acetic acid: 0.1%

K-sorbate: 0.0%

23°C

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 5 10 15 20 25

Time (days)L

og

CF

U/m

l

pH 3.8, NaCl: 9%

Acetic acid: 0.1%

K-sorbate:0.05%

23°C

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Summary

- High number of illnesses are due to microbial pathogens

- Health surveillance, pathogen detection, predictive tools and food hygiene are key areas of scientific capacity building for food safety

- Food safety approaches are evolving from hazard-based to risk-based

- Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) and predictive microbiology are helpful tools for food safety management