Identification of Emerging Hazards in Mussels by the Galician Emerging Food Safety Risks Network (RISEGAL). A First Approach
Marta López Cabo,
Jesús L. Romalde,
Jesus Simal-Gandara,
Ana Gago Martínez,
Jorge Giráldez Fernández,
Marta Bernárdez Costas,
Santiago Pascual del Hierro,
Ánxela Pousa Ortega,
Célia M. Manaia,
Joana Abreu Silva,
Juan Rodríguez Herrera
Affiliations
Marta López Cabo
Seafood Microbiology and Technology Section, Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 36208 Vigo, Spain
Jesús L. Romalde
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, CIBUS-Faculty of Biology & Institute CRETUS, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, E15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Jesus Simal-Gandara
Nutrition and Bromatology Group, Department of Analytical and Food Chemistry, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universidade de Vigo–Ourense Campus, E32004 Ourense, Spain
Ana Gago Martínez
Department Analytical and Food Chemistry, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Jorge Giráldez Fernández
Department Analytical and Food Chemistry, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Marta Bernárdez Costas
Seafood Microbiology and Technology Section, Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 36208 Vigo, Spain
Santiago Pascual del Hierro
Seafood Microbiology and Technology Section, Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 36208 Vigo, Spain
Ánxela Pousa Ortega
Direccion Xeral de Innovación e Xestión da Saúde Pública, Consellería de Sanidade, Xunta de Galicia, 15781 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Célia M. Manaia
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Joana Abreu Silva
CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Rua Diogo Botelho 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal
Juan Rodríguez Herrera
Seafood Microbiology and Technology Section, Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 36208 Vigo, Spain
Emerging risk identification is a priority for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The goal of the Galician Emerging Food Safety Risks Network (RISEGAL) is the identification of emerging risks in foods produced and commercialized in Galicia (northwest Spain) in order to propose prevention plans and mitigation strategies. In this work, RISEGAL applied a systematic approach for the identification of emerging food safety risks potentially affecting bivalve shellfish. First, a comprehensive review of scientific databases was carried out to identify hazards most quoted as emerging in bivalves in the period 2016–2018. Then, identified hazards were semiquantitatively assessed by a panel of food safety experts, who scored them accordingly with the five evaluation criteria proposed by EFSA: novelty, soundness, imminence, scale, and severity. Scores determined that perfluorinated compounds, antimicrobial resistance, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, hepatitis E virus (HEV), and antimicrobial residues are the emerging hazards that are considered most imminent and severe and that could cause safety problems of the highest scale in the bivalve value chain by the majority of the experts consulted (75%). Finally, in a preliminary way, an exploratory study carried out in the Galician Rías highlighted the presence of HEV in mussels cultivated in class B production areas.
