Ten-year evaluation of microbiological contamination on surfaces in three operational realities in the food sector for improvement of preventive actions.

Abstract

Abstract Food sector operators are responsible for monitoring the production cycle in order to offer a safe product from a sanitary point of view for marketing and consumption. The main goal of the work was to evaluate the degree of contamination of various surfaces in different production companies and therefore the effectiveness of the sanitization procedures performed at critical points in the aforesaid process (CCPs). As a result of this initial analysis, suggestions are then made on how to strengthen the prevention and reduce the risk of microbial contamination of the entire workflow and also on how to prevent foodborne infectious diseases and drug resistance. The analytical investigation activity was carried out in our province in the period between 2011–2020 and involved commercial catering environments, large-scale distribution, small retail centers and small producers. Significant differences emerged from the results regarding the contamination of surfaces in the operational situations considered (contamination with Enterobacteriaceae spp. was more frequent in retail centers than in the other food sectors (16.3% vs 33.0%; p < 0.001) whilst a higher possibility of finding a positive sample was more probable for large-scale distribution equipment (24.3% vs 40.4%; p = 0.005). It was also observed how the collecting technique performed by contact plate gave more positive results than collecting samples with a swab (10.1% vs 5.7%; p = 0.002) and how some types of surfaces require more attention. In conclusion, from a risk prevention perspective, the results were satisfactory but could be further implemented through better sanitization practices that were recommended in the event of positive sampling.