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Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study

Currently, food waste represents an important issue due to its negative economic, social and environmental impact. To reduce the food waste levels, some retailers’ brands implement discounting based on the proximity to expiry. Since this practice may involve potential food poisoning, a total of 94 f...

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Autores principales: Maio, Rita, García-Díez, Juan, Saraiva, Cristina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7404984/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32668583
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods9070919
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author Maio, Rita
García-Díez, Juan
Saraiva, Cristina
author_facet Maio, Rita
García-Díez, Juan
Saraiva, Cristina
author_sort Maio, Rita
collection PubMed
description Currently, food waste represents an important issue due to its negative economic, social and environmental impact. To reduce the food waste levels, some retailers’ brands implement discounting based on the proximity to expiry. Since this practice may involve potential food poisoning, a total of 94 food products from animal origin, purchased in two supermarkets in North Portugal on the expiry date, were analyzed for selected foodborne and spoilage microorganisms. Moreover, the samples were classified as satisfactory and not satisfactory according to their microbiological quality. The results showed that none of the samples presented counts for Salmonella spp., S. aureus, B. cereus. L. monocytogenes was detected in one sample over the limit of 2 log cfu/g as defined by Regulation 2073/2005. The evaluation of food hygiene and spoilage indicators showed that the processed foods displayed lower counts than raw products (beef, pork, chicken and fish). Regarding Enterobacteriaceae, raw products presented on average over 2 log cfu/g than processed foods, with the exception of beef samples that accounted over 3 log cfu/g more than processed foods. In addition, E. coli was mainly detected in fresh meat of which chicken and pork displayed the highest counts. Regarding the qualitative classification, 51.06% of the samples were not satisfactory for the total mesophilic counts, while 62.76% and 58.51% displayed positive results for Enterobacteriaceae and molds and yeasts (M&Y) criteria, respectively. In all, 70.21% of the samples analyzed at the expiry date failed, at least, in one microbiological criterion. The results indicate that the foods available at the end of the shelf life in supermarkets do not represent a risk for food poisoning due to the absence of foodborne pathogens. Since the microbiological indicators of storage/handling of raw products were mainly unsatisfactory, this indicates that the sale of these perishable foods at the end of the shelf life may not be recommended. On the other hand, processed products subjected to food conservation procedures (i.e., thermal processing) could be sold at the end of their shelf life or donated beyond the best-before date, due to its physical, chemical and microbiological stability. However, evidences of foodborne outbreaks associated to this kind of foodstuffs indicated the need of a proper risk assessment. Moreover, it is important to remark that other factors such as small sample size, the absence of the evaluation of the handling, and storage conditions along the food chain or organoleptic alterations must be assessed in further studies.
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spelling pubmed-74049842020-08-11 Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study Maio, Rita García-Díez, Juan Saraiva, Cristina Foods Article Currently, food waste represents an important issue due to its negative economic, social and environmental impact. To reduce the food waste levels, some retailers’ brands implement discounting based on the proximity to expiry. Since this practice may involve potential food poisoning, a total of 94 food products from animal origin, purchased in two supermarkets in North Portugal on the expiry date, were analyzed for selected foodborne and spoilage microorganisms. Moreover, the samples were classified as satisfactory and not satisfactory according to their microbiological quality. The results showed that none of the samples presented counts for Salmonella spp., S. aureus, B. cereus. L. monocytogenes was detected in one sample over the limit of 2 log cfu/g as defined by Regulation 2073/2005. The evaluation of food hygiene and spoilage indicators showed that the processed foods displayed lower counts than raw products (beef, pork, chicken and fish). Regarding Enterobacteriaceae, raw products presented on average over 2 log cfu/g than processed foods, with the exception of beef samples that accounted over 3 log cfu/g more than processed foods. In addition, E. coli was mainly detected in fresh meat of which chicken and pork displayed the highest counts. Regarding the qualitative classification, 51.06% of the samples were not satisfactory for the total mesophilic counts, while 62.76% and 58.51% displayed positive results for Enterobacteriaceae and molds and yeasts (M&Y) criteria, respectively. In all, 70.21% of the samples analyzed at the expiry date failed, at least, in one microbiological criterion. The results indicate that the foods available at the end of the shelf life in supermarkets do not represent a risk for food poisoning due to the absence of foodborne pathogens. Since the microbiological indicators of storage/handling of raw products were mainly unsatisfactory, this indicates that the sale of these perishable foods at the end of the shelf life may not be recommended. On the other hand, processed products subjected to food conservation procedures (i.e., thermal processing) could be sold at the end of their shelf life or donated beyond the best-before date, due to its physical, chemical and microbiological stability. However, evidences of foodborne outbreaks associated to this kind of foodstuffs indicated the need of a proper risk assessment. Moreover, it is important to remark that other factors such as small sample size, the absence of the evaluation of the handling, and storage conditions along the food chain or organoleptic alterations must be assessed in further studies. MDPI 2020-07-13 /pmc/articles/PMC7404984/ /pubmed/32668583 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods9070919 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Maio, Rita
García-Díez, Juan
Saraiva, Cristina
Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title_full Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title_fullStr Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title_full_unstemmed Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title_short Microbiological Quality of Foodstuffs Sold on Expiry Date at Retail in Portugal: A Preliminary Study
title_sort microbiological quality of foodstuffs sold on expiry date at retail in portugal: a preliminary study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7404984/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32668583
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods9070919
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