Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Campylobacter Foodborne Illness in Raw Beef Offal Consumption in South Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the risk of Campylobacter foodborne illness caused by the intake of raw beef offal in South Korea. The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in raw beef offal (liver and tripe) was investigated by plating samples on modified charcoal-cefoperazone-deoxycholate agar with Preston enrichment broth. Data were collected about storage temperature and length of storage of raw beef offal, and probabilistic distributions for the data were determined, using @RISK software. Predictive models were developed to describe the fate of Campylobacter in raw beef offal, and the amount and frequency of consumption and dose-response model were surveyed. Subsequently, these data were used to estimate the risk of Campylobacter foodborne illness caused by the intake of raw beef offal. Of 80 beef offal samples, 1 (1.25%) was contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni. Predictive models were used for exposure assessment. An exponential distribution was selected to represent beef offal consumption by people who eat this occasionally, with a mean of 60.2 g and 3.6% monthly consumption frequency. Simulations using @RISK predicted that the probability of Campylobacter foodborne illness per person per month is 1.56 × 10−5 for home consumption and 1.74 × 10−5 for restaurant consumption in South Korea, which indicates the risk of Campylobacter foodborne illness by intake of raw beef offal in South Korea.