Occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in Raw and Ready-to-Eat Foods and in a Canadian Food Service Operation

• Published in: Journal of food protection 2008-10, Vol.71 (10), p.2087-2093
• Main Authors: Medeiros, Diane T, Sattar, Syed A, Farber, Jeffrey M, Carrillo, Catherine D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; bacterial contamination; beef; Biological and medical sciences; Campylobacter; Campylobacter - isolation & purification; Campylobacter jejuni - isolation & purification; Cattle; Cheese - microbiology; chicken meat; Chickens; Consumer Product Safety; cross contamination; Food Analysis; food contamination; Food Contamination - analysis; Food industries; Food Microbiology; food service; Food Services - standards; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Meat - microbiology; Meat Products - microbiology; microbial detection; Milk - microbiology; Ontario - epidemiology; pork; Prevalence; raw meat; raw milk; ready-to-eat foods; Restaurants; Swine
• ISSN: 0362-028X; 1944-9097
• DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X-71.10.2087

The occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in a variety of foods from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and raw milk samples from across Canada was determined over a 2-year period. The samples consisted of 55 raw foods (chicken, pork, and beef), 126 raw milk samples from raw milk cheese manufacturers, and 135 ready-to-eat foods (meat products, salads, and raw milk cheeses). Campylobacter jejuni was detected in 4 of the 316 samples analyzed: 1 raw beef liver sample and 3 raw chicken samples. An isolation rate of 9.7% was observed among the raw chicken samples tested. This study also investigated the role of cross-contamination in disseminating Campylobacter from raw poultry within a food service operation specializing in poultry dishes. Accordingly, kitchen surfaces within a restaurant in Ottawa, Ontario, were sampled between March and August 2001. Tests of the sampling method indicated that as few as 100 Campylobacter cells could be detected if sampling was done within 45 min of inoculation; however, Campylobacter spp. were not detected in 125 swabs of surfaces within the kitchens of this food service operation. Despite the reported high prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in raw poultry, this organism was not detected on surfaces within a kitchen of a restaurant specializing in poultry dishes.