Viral Contamination of Food

Overview of Foodborne viruses: Important viruses, outbreaks, health concerns, food Handling and fresh produce

Foodborne viruses can transmit through food in lots of ways including consuming items of animal origin containing zoonotic viruses, consuming contaminated food handled by infected food workers, and consuming contaminated food produced by humans. Viral foodborne illnesses are now a major contributor to all foodborne illness reports in recent years and are seen as a rising issue to the public health of humans and animals. Noroviruses and hepatitis A viruses were shown to be predominantly linked to the food-handler transmission and sewage-contaminated foods, according to microbiological research. In order to facilitate source attribution and identify risk preventive measures, routine, standard surveillance of viral outbreaks, and surveillance of virus occurrence in food products, combined with systematic strain typing, food and clinical microbiologists, would be advocated.

The Intra-European Union Food Trade with the Relation to the Notifications in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed

About three-quarters of food exports from European Union (EU) countries goes to the common market in which the free movement of products is ensured. Therefore, it is important to examine from which EU countries the food is exported, what food products they are, and what hazards may be present in these products. The data for research were obtained for 1999–2018 from the Eurostat database (according to the Standard International Trade Classification—SITC) and the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database. Then, cluster analysis was performed using joining (tree clustering) and two-way joining methods. The main food exporters were the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They exported: cereals, fruits and vegetables, beverages and feeding stuff (in quantitative terms) and fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy products, and cereals (in terms of value). In turn, the most frequently notified hazards in food originating from these countries were: pathogenic micro-organisms, microbial contaminants, metals, composition, foreign bodies, allergens, and pesticide residues. The increase in the number of alert notifications in the RASFF is particularly noticeable in recent years. The results of the research may be useful for activities related to food traceability, changes in the European law, and encouraging the use of extensive methods in agriculture.

Food products as potential carriers of SARS-CoV-2

At present, humanity is confronting with a novel life-threatening challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. To date, the various transmission modes of SARS-CoV-2 have not been completely determined. Food products might be carriers for SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 pandemic not only can spread through the respiratory tract like SARS and MERS but also the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces of several patients, shows the possibility of their fecal-oral route spread. Besides, people with gastric problems, including gastric intestinal metaplasia and atrophic gastritis, may be susceptible to this kind of COVID-19 infection. Accordingly, food may act as a potential vehicle of SARS-CoV-2 due to whether carry-through or carry-over contaminations. Considering carry-over, SARS-CoV-2 spread from personnel to food products or food surfaces is feasible. Beyond that, some shreds of evidence showed that pigs and rabbits can be infected by SARS-CoV-2. Thus, viral transmission through meat products may be conceivable, indicating carry-through contamination. As the spread rate of SARS-CoV-2 is high and its stability in different environments, especially food processing surfaces, is also remarkable, it may enter foods in whether industrialized processing or the traditional one. Therefore, established precautious acts is suggested to be applied in food processing units. The present review elucidates the risk of various staple food products, including meat and meat products, dairy products, bread, fruits, vegetables, and ready-to-eat foods as potential carriers for transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Identification of bacterial endospores and targeted detection of foodborne viruses in industrially reared insects for food

With edible insects being increasingly produced, food safety authorities have called for the determination of microbiological challenges posed to human health. Here, we find that the bacterial endospore fraction in industrially reared mealworm and cricket samples is largely comprised of Bacillus cereus group members that can pose insect or human health risks. Hepatitis A virus, hepatitis E virus and norovirus genogroup II were not detected in the sample collection, indicating a low food safety risk from these viral pathogens.