The Microbiological Risk Assessment Of Food

The Microbiological Risk Assessment of Food follows on from the author's successful book The Microbiology of Safe Food and provides a detailed analysis of the subject area including cutting-edge information on: foodborne pathogens in world trade; food safety, control and HACCP; risk analysis; the application of microbiological risk assessment (MRA) and likely future developments in the techniques and applications of MRA.

This important book focuses on what is an acceptable level of risk to consumers associated with eating food, on a daily basis, which does contain bacteria. An extremely important addition to the available literature, providing a thorough synthesis that will be an essential purchase for all those involved with issues relating to safe food.

Copies of the book should be available to practitioners in food companies and academia, including food microbiologists, food scientists and technologists, to consultants and to all those studying or teaching food microbiology. Personnel in government regulatory and public and environmental health capacities will find much of use within the covers of this book. Copies of the book should also be available in the libraries of all research establishments and university departments where food science, food technology and microbiology are studied and taught.

Stephen J. Forsythe is Reader in Microbiology at the Department of Life Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Cover Photograph: Lactobacillus case Shirota by kind permission and courtesy of Yakult UK Ltd.

Dr Stephen J. Forsythe is Reader in Microbiology at the Department of Life Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in World Trade: Foodborne microbial pathogens; Chronic sequelae following foodborne illness; Emergence and re-emergence of foodborne pathogens and toxins; Changes in host susceptibility and exposure; Processing methods and globalisation of the food industry; Changes in consumption pattern; Immunological status; Malnutrition; Changing perceptions and values; Risk of food poisoning; The cost of foodborne diseases; International control of microbiological hazards in foods; Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement; Origin of microbiological risk assessment.

Food Safety, Control and HACCP: Outline of HACCP; Food hazards; Pre-HACCP Principles; Principle 1 Hazard Analysis; Principle 2 Critical Control Points; Principle 3 Critical Limits; Principle 4 CCP Monitoring; Principle 5 Corrective Actions; Principle 6 Verification; Principle 7 Record-keeping; Control at source; Product design and process control; Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting microbial growth; Irradiation; High Pressure Technology; Temperature control of microbiological hazards; Microbial response to stress; Response to pH stress; Heat- and cold shock response; Response to osmotic shock; Response to high hydrostatic pressure; Predictive modelling ; Primary models and the Gompertz and Baranyi equations; Secondary models; Tertiary models ; Microbiological Criteria; Attributes sampling plan; Operating characterisitic curve.

Risk Analysis: Overview of Microbiological Risk Assessment; Risk Assessment; Risk Management; Risk Communication; Risk Assessment; Statement of purpose; Hazard Identification; Exposure Assessment; Hazard Characterization; Preface; Dose-response assessment; Dose-response models; Dose and infection; Risk Characterization; Production of a formal report; Triangular distributions and Monte Carlo simulation; Risk Management; Risk assessment policy; Risk Profiling; Food Safety Objectives; Risk Communication.

Application of Microbiological Risk Assessment: Salmonella spp.; S. Enteritidis in shell eggs and egg products; Hazard identification and hazard characterization of Salmonella in broilers and eggs; Exposure assessment of Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs; Exposure assessment of Salmonella spp. in broilers; Salmonella spp. in cooked chicken; Salmonella spp. in cooked patty; Poultry FARM; Domestic and sporadic human salmonellosis; Campylobacter jejuni/coli; jejuni risk from fresh chicken; Risk profile for pathogenic species of Campylobacter in Denmark; Risk assessment of C. jejuni in broilers; Campylobacter fluoroquinolone resistance; Listeria monocytogenes; L. monocytogenes hazard identification and hazard characterization in ready-to-eat foods; L. monocytogenes exposure assessment in ready-to-eat foods; Relative risk of L. monocytogenes in selected ready-to-eat foods; L. monocytogenes in EU trade; L. monocytogenes in meat balls; Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC); E. coli O157:H7; E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef; Bacillus cereus; cereus risk assessment ; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Public health impact of V. parahaemolyticus in raw molluscan shellfish; Mycotoxins; Aflatoxins; Ochratoxins; Other mycotoxins; Rotaviruses; Viral contamination of shellfish and coastal waters.

Future Developments in Microbiological Risk Assessment: International methodology and guidelines; Data; Training courses and use of resources; Microbiological risk assessment support system; Glossary of terms used in risk analysis; References; Internet directory; Index