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Projeto de investigação
SafeConsumE: Safer food through changed consumer behavior: Effective tools and products, communication strategies, education and a food safety policy reducing health burden from foodborne illnesses
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Washing hands and risk of cross-contamination during chicken preparation among domestic practitioners in five European countries
Publication . DIDIER, Pierrine; Nguyen-The, Christophe; Martens, Lydia; Foden, Mike; Dumitrascu, Loredana; Mihalache, Octavian Augustin; Nicolau, Anca Ioana; Skuland, Silje Elisabeth; Truninger, Monica; Junqueira, Luis; Maitre, Isabelle
Nearly 40% foodborne outbreaks in the European Union are attributable to food practices in domestic homes that include handling and preparation of raw chicken. Hand washing is an important way to prevent cross-contamination with pathogens during chicken preparation. This study, which is part of the EU Horizon 2020 funded consortium SafeConsume, aimed at quantifying and understanding hand washing practices in three categories of households and five European countries. A quantitative survey (n=1889) was combined with qualitative research, during which 75 participants from France, Norway, Portugal, Romania, and the United Kingdom were observed and interviewed. An original method for analysing video with “The Observer XT” software was developed to identify when and how risk arises. The quantitative survey and qualitative research data revealed that touching raw chicken was more frequent in Romania and Portugal. Practices to avoid touching raw chicken were declared and observed, although observations revealed that these practices were not always consistently followed. Only a third of the participants washed their hands with soap after handling raw chicken with important variations among countries (a majority in Norway and in the UK, a few in France and Portugal, none in Romania), in contrast to the results of the survey. Observations and interviews suggested that rinsing hands with water only and washing hands with soap are considered equivalent by many people. Barriers to washing hands due to improper equipment were mainly observed in Romania. Washing hands after touching raw chicken was motivated by food safety concerns for some participants in Norway and the UK, but not in France and Portugal, where it was motivated by unpleasant feelings on hands, or presented as a habit. Participants not washing their hands after touching the chicken did it after other actions they presumably perceived as unsafe (e.g. touching the bin, handling pets, and blowing the nose), indicating that they did not specifically consider touching raw chicken as risky. Knowledge, habits, and equipment with regard to chicken and hand washing differed among European countries, resulting in safe and risky practices.
Assessing learning about food safety using Personal Meaning Maps
Publication . Silva, Alexandre; Junqueira, Luis; Truninger, Monica; Delicado, Ana; Csenki, Eszter; Fehér, Ágnes; Ózsvári, László; Szakos, Dávid
Objective:
According to the World Health Organisation’s estimates, food contamination is linked to 23 million cases of illness and 5,000 deaths per year in Europe. While changes in food production and distribution play an important role in managing contamination risk, foodborne illnesses can originate in food-handling practices at home. This study aimed to assess how a food safety education initiative in which students learned about food safety risks and minimising risk behaviour improved students’ knowledge about food safety.
Setting:
Three public schools, two in Hungary and one in Portugal.
Methods:
A study of 105 Hungarian and Portuguese students between 11 and 18 years of age were invited to prepare Personal Meaning Maps before and after the delivery of a food safety lesson delivered by a school science teacher. Knowledge and risk perceptions of food safety, before and after the delivery of the lesson, were assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Results:
Food safety topics that were scored highest were those that already had strong scores in the diagnostic phase, such as those related to personal hygiene and use-by dates. However, the largest increases in mastery scores were in less-known-about topics such as cold chain and cross-contamination risks. Idea associations take place often by linking specific contents to already-known-about concepts.
Conclusion:
Findings show that students more readily engaged with practical concepts directly linked to their experience of food handling at home than to more abstract concepts of food safety and contamination.
Cross-contamination events of Campylobacter spp. in domestic kitchens associated with consumer handling practices of raw poultry
Publication . Cardoso, Maria João; Ferreira, Vânia; Truninger, Mónica; Maia, Rui; Teixeira, Paula
Contaminated poultry is the major vehicle for consumer’s exposure to Campylobacter. This study aimed to
perceive potential cross-contamination events during preparation of raw poultry that can contribute to the
spread of Campylobacter spp. in domestic kitchen environments and to understand consumers’ meanings and
justifications on preparation of a poultry dish at home. A total of 18 households were visited to observe con sumers preparing a recipe that included poultry. Poultry samples and swabs from the kitchen surfaces and
utensils, such as kitchen cloth, hand towel, sponge, cutting boards and the sink, were collected before and after
food preparation and tested for the presence of Campylobacter spp. Genotypic characterization of 72 Campylo bacter spp. isolates was carried out through Pulse-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). Fourteen chicken samples
were contaminated with Campylobacter spp. (77.8%). Twelve consumers (66.6%) washed the chicken meat under
running tap water and eight (44.4%) used cutting boards. Also, only five consumers washed their hands properly
prior to or during meal preparation. Cross-contamination events were detected in four kitchens, between the raw
chicken and two cutting boards, two sinks and one kitchen cloth. The poultry samples presented different levels
of contamination (< 4.0 × 101 CFU/g to 2.2 × 103 CFU/g), being some poultry with lower Campylobacter loads
the origin of three cross-contamination events during food preparation. Both C. jejuni and C. coli were recovered.
Molecular typing by PFGE showed a high diversity among the isolates. There were different explanations for the
practice of cleaning and rinsing chicken, but, in general, it is an habit linked to what they have learned from their
families. These results highlight the potential for the dissemination of Campylobacter strains in the domestic
environment through the preparation of chicken meat and the need to raise awareness among consumers for an
appropriate handling of raw poultry in order to decrease the risk of campylobacteriosis.
Kitchen layouts and consumers’ food hygiene practices: Ergonomics versus safety
Publication . Mihalache, Octavian Augustin; Møretrø, Trond; Borda, Daniela; Dumitrascu, Loredana; Neagu, Corina; Nguyen-The, Christophe; Maitre, Isabelle; Didier, Pierrine; Teixeira, Paula; Junqueira, Luis; Truninger, Monica; Izsó, Tekla; Kasza, Gyula; Skuland, Silje Elisabeth; Langsrud, Solveig; Nicolau, Anca Ioana
Our paper emphasizes the importance of the kitchen layout in facilitating consumers' food hygiene practices. A significant correlation was found between the sink placement (inside or outside the kitchen) and hygienic practices during food handling based on a survey performed on consumers from ten European countries, indicating that those who had the sink in the kitchen were more likely to perform proper hygiene practices than those who have not. The self-reported practices were supported by observed practices in 64 households from five European countries. The observational study combined with the examination of kitchen layouts revealed that the kitchen work triangle with its apexes represented by the kitchen sink, cooking stove and refrigerator, which is recommended for ergonomic reasons by architects and designers, did not necessarily support food hygiene practices in kitchens. Cross-contamination events were associated with the sink – countertop distances longer than 1 m. Based on this, a new kitchen triangle with its apexes represented by the kitchen sink, working place (usually countertop) and cooking stove, with the distance between the sink and the working place less than 1 m is proposed to be used as norm in kitchen designs for combining ergonomics with safety. This triangle is proposedly named the food safety triangle and is aimed to mitigate the risks of foodborne illnesses by creating an arrangement that facilitates hygiene practices. This study is the first to highlight the importance of implementing the concept of food safety in the kitchen design based on significant correlations between kitchen equipment placement and consumers’ food safety practices.
Cross-contamination of lettuce with Campylobacter spp. via cooking salt during handling raw poultry
Publication . Santos, Nanci; Alves, Ângela; Cardoso, Maria João; Langsrud, Solveig; Malheiro, Ana Rita; Fernandes, Rui; Maia, Rui; Truninger, Monica; Junqueira, Luis; Nicolau, Anca Ioana; Dumitrașcu, Loredana; Skuland, Silje Elisabeth; Kasza, Gyula; Izsó, Tekla; Ferreira, Vânia; Teixeira, Paula
Campylobacter spp. are the most common bacterial pathogens associated with human gastroenteritis in industrialized countries. Contaminated chicken is the food vehicle associated with the majority of reported cases of campylobacteriosis, either by the consumption of undercooked meat or via cross- contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods during the handling of contaminated raw chicken parts and carcasses. Our results indicate that cooking salt (used for seasoning) is a potential vehicle for Campylobacter spp. cross-contamination from raw chicken to lettuce, through unwashed hands after handling contaminated chicken. Cross-contamination events were observed even when the chicken skin was contaminated with low levels of Campylobacter spp. (ca. 1.48 Log CFU/g). The pathogen was recovered from seasoned lettuce samples when raw chicken was contaminated with levels ≥ 2.34 Log CFU/g. We also demonstrated that, once introduced into cooking salt, Campylobacter spp. are able to survive in a culturable state up to 4 hours. After six hours, although not detected following an enrichment period in culture medium, intact cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. These findings reveal a "novel" indirect cross-contamination route of Campylobacter in domestic settings, and a putative contamination source to RTE foods that are seasoned with salt, that might occur if basic food hygiene practices are not adopted by consumers when preparing and cooking poultry dishes.
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Entidade financiadora
European Commission
Programa de financiamento
H2020
Número da atribuição
727580