Microbial contamination and fast quantitative risk assessment of retail Chinese salads in Huzhou City

Abstract

ObjectiveTo understand the microbial contamination status of retail Chinese salads in Huzhou， and conduct a fast quantitative risk assessment to provide reference for foodborne disease prevention and control.MethodsIn 2019 and 2020， 461 samples of retail Chinese salads were randomly collected and detected for E.coli， Salmonella， Listeria monocytogenes， and B.cereus. According to the relevant standards， the status of microbial contamination was evaluated， and the health risk was preliminarily evaluated by sQMRA tool.ResultsThe unqualified rate of E.coli in retail Chinese salads was the highest （48.94%， 46/94）， and the average concentration was 104.34 CFU/g， which was mainly in the circulation links of farmer’s markets and online stores （P = 0.004）. The detection rates of Listeria monocytogenes， S.aureus， Salmonella and B.cereus were 9.54% （44/461）， 5.21% （24/461）， 1.30% （6/461） and 1.06% （1/94）， respectively. The unqualified rates of S.aureus（≥104 CFU/g） and B.cereus （≥105 CFU/g） were zero. The estimated annual incidence of four food borne pathogens was 2 208 cases， the estimated probability was 7.21 × 10-4， and the risk level was medium.ConclusionThe sanitary quality of retail Chinese salads in Huzhou City is not optimistic， E.coli contamination is the most serious. The contamination of four major food borne pathogens can lead to certain health risks. And further surveillance， assessment and management are needed．

Keywords

• chinese salad
• pathogenic bacteria
• risk assessment
• huzhou