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Protecting ready-to-eat foods Understanding and ranking the routes of microbial contamination of ready-to-eat foods enables time, effort and cost to be targeted most effectively - improving safety assurance and shelf-life, reducing out-of-specification product and recalls, and cutting costs. This project generated a system, data and information to help companies achieve this. Using three factory-based examples - ham, pasta and bagged salad - we assessed the potential for microbial contamination from people (hands), air, food contact surfaces (e.g. utensils, chopping boards, gloves) and liquids (e.g. cooling water). Laboratory methods were used to determine the transfer of micro-organisms from surfaces to an agar food model, and rank the routes of transfer in order of concern. In the pasta study, for example, contact with surfaces was shown to be the main source of contamination, with minimal risks from air and cooling water. The system can be applied to particular products and the conditions under which they are produced, to help companies better target their efforts on contamination control. Contact: Debra Smith |