Microbiological Hazard Analysis of Cooked Foods Donated to Foodbank (II)

Park, Hyung Soo; Ryu, Kyung

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the safety level of non-cooking and cooking processed foods to propose the sanitary management of foods donated to foodbanks. The time and temperature were measured and the microbial levels of aerobic plate counts (APC), coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella spp., S. aureus, B. cereus, and E. coli O157:H7 were analyzed on ten food items donated to seven foodbanks. The amount of cooked foods donated to each foodbank was about 10 to 40 servings. All foodbanks hired a supervisor and had at least one refrigerator/freezer and one temperature-controlled vehicle, but only four foodbanks had the separate offices to manage the foodbank operation. The flow of donated foods was gone through the steps; production, meal service and holding at donator, collection by foodbank, transport (or holding after transport) and distribution to recipients. After production, the levels of APC of both non-cooking and cooking processed foods were complied with the standards by Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, and were not increased till distribution. Only the level of coliforms in dried squid & cucumber salad (1.5x10(3) CFU/g) was not met the standards. E. coli and other pathogens were not detected in all tested samples. The microbial levels of delivery vessels and work tables were satisfactory, but the APC levels of two of four tested serving tables (6.9x10(3) and 5.3x10(3) CFU/100cm2) and the coliforms level of one (1.1x10(3) CFU/100cm2) were over the standards. The air-borne microflora level in serving room was estimated as satisfactory. It took about 3.0 to 6.5 hours from after-production to distribution and the temperatures of donated foods were exposed mostly to temperature danger zone, which had a high potential of microbial growth. These results imply that a checklist to monitor time and temperature in each step should be provided and the employees involving foodbank operation should be properly educated to ensure the safety of donated foods.