Publications

@article{https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200409,

title = {Seafood safety and food-borne zoonoses from fish},

author = {O Golden and Andreia Juliana Rodrigues Caldeira and LF Rangel and MJ Santos},

url = {https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200409},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200409},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {EFSA Journal},

volume = {20},

number = {S1},

pages = {e200409},

abstract = {Abstract Parasitic nematodes of the genus Anisakis are the causative agent of anisakiosis, an important fish-borne zoonosis. Humans are infected through consumption of raw or undercooked fish, contaminated with the parasite. Infection can result in both gastrointestinal and allergic symptoms. There are few reports of anisakiosis in Portugal, but evidence of Anisakis allergy exists, indicating that exposure is occurring in the population. The European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship Programme (EU-FORA) work programme, entitled: ‘Food safety of fish and zoonoses: fish consumption and microbiological risk assessment and perception, from fisherman to final consumers in Portugal’ was hosted by the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), in Porto, Portugal. It aimed to gather information on risk perception and attitudes in the Portuguese population to contamination of fish with Anisakis spp. and on their knowledge of methods to prevent infection. In addition, it aimed to examine the risk of anisakiosis in the Portuguese population.},

keywords = {Anisakis, fish parasite, food safety, Zoonoses},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200417,

title = {Integration of genomics in surveillance and risk assessment for outbreak investigation},

author = {Vincenzo Pennone and José Francisco Cobo-Díaz and Miguel Prieto-Maradona and Avelino Álvarez-Ordóñez},

url = {https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200417},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.e200417},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {EFSA Journal},

volume = {20},

number = {S1},

pages = {e200417},

abstract = {Abstract Keeping food safe is a challenge that needs continuous surveillance for the sake of consumers’ health. The main issue when a food-borne pathogen outbreak occurs is represented by the identification of the source(s) of contamination. Delivering this information in a timely manner helps to control the problem, with positive outcomes for everyone, especially for the consumers, whose health is in this way preserved, and for the stakeholders involved in food production and distribution, who could face enormous economic losses if recalls or legal issues occur. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is a tool recently implemented for the characterisation of isolates and the study of outbreaks because of its higher efficiency and faster results, when compared to traditional typing methods. Lower sequencing costs and the development of many bioinformatic tools helped its spread, and much more attention has been given to its use for outbreak investigation. It is important to reach a certain level of standardisation, though, for ensuring result reproducibility and interoperability. Moreover, nowadays it is possible, if not mandatory for Open Science Practices, to share WGS data in publicly available databases, where raw reads, assembled genomes and their corresponding metadata can be easily found and downloaded. The scope of this Fellowship was to provide the Fellow all the training necessary for successfully integrating genomics to surveillance and risk assessment of food-borne pathogens from farm to fork.},

keywords = {Antimicrobial resistance, farm to fork, food safety, outbreak, risk assessment, surveillance, whole genome sequencing},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.e181103,

title = {Training in tools to develop Quantitative Risk Assessment using Spanish ready-to-eat food examples},

author = {Leonidas Georgalis and Alberto Garre and Pablo S Fernandez Escamez},

url = {https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.e181103},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.e181103},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-01-01},

journal = {EFSA Journal},

volume = {18},

number = {S1},

pages = {e181103},

abstract = {Abstract Unsafe food poses global health threats, potentially endangering consumers. The great majority of people will experience a food-borne disease at some point in their lives. Ready-to-eat (RTE) food is the one intended by the producer or the manufacturer for direct human consumption without the need for cooking or other processing effective to eliminate or reduce the concentration of pathogenic microorganisms. Prepared foods are often complex and may contain multiple components that make them vulnerable for growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Among all the pathogenic microorganisms that may be present in RTE foods, Listeria monocytogenes is of special interest because it is the causative agent of listeriosis and it has the ability to survive and replicate at refrigeration and low pH conditions. We performed a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) in RTE dry-fermented sausage to measure the risk of listeriosis associated to the consumption of this product. The starting point of our investigation was the storage at the factory, after the end-product was produced and before distribution to retail. The stochastic model was implemented in MicroHibro, an online tool for QMRA. Because L. monocytogenes concentration and prevalence can vary greatly between different studies and different types of fermented sausages, we tested different scenarios to show the importance of low prevalence and concentration of the pathogen at the final product. Our results show that the risk estimates are very sensitive to the modelling hypotheses used to describe this process. Therefore, the development of accurate probabilistic models describing the initial concentration of L. monocytogenes shall largely reduce the uncertainty associated to the QMRA of listeriosis in this type of product.},

keywords = {food safety, Listeria monocytogenes, QMRA, risk assessment, RTE meat},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16082,

title = {Novel foods: a risk profile for the house cricket (Acheta domesticus)},

author = {X Fernandez-Cassi and A Supeanu and A Jansson and S Boqvist and I Vagsholm},

url = {https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16082},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16082},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-01-01},

journal = {EFSA Journal},

volume = {16},

number = {S1},

pages = {e16082},

abstract = {Abstract Novel foods could represent a sustainable alternative to traditional farming and conventional foodstuffs. Starting in 2018, Regulation (EU) 2283/2015 entered into force, laying down provisions for the approval of novel foods in Europe, including insects. This Approved Regulation establishes the requirements that enable Food Business Operators to bring new foods into the EU market, while ensuring high levels of food safety for European consumers. The present risk profile tackles the hazards for one of the most promising novel food insects, the house cricket (Acheta domesticus). The risk profile envisages a closed A. domesticus crickets rearing system, under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and good farming practices (GFP), in contrast with open cricket farms. The methodology used involves screening the literature and identifying possible hazards, followed by adding relevant inclusion criteria for the evidence obtained. These criteria include animal health and food safety aspects, for the entire lifespan of crickets, based on the farm to fork One Health principle. When data were scarce, comparative evidence from close relatives of the Orthoptera genus was used (e.g. grasshoppers, locusts and other cricket species). Nevertheless, significant data gaps in animal health and food safety are present. Even if HACCP-type systems are implemented, the risk profile identifies the following considerable concerns: (1) high total aerobic bacterial counts; (2) survival of spore-forming bacteria following thermal processing; (3) allergenicity of insects and insect-derived products; and (4) the bioaccumulation of heavy metals (e.g. cadmium). Other hazards like parasites, fungi, viruses, prions, antimicrobial resistance and toxins are ranked as low risk. For some hazards, a need for additional evidence is highlighted.},

keywords = {entomophagy, food safety, house cricket, novel foods, risk profile},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16086,

title = {Use of next-generation sequencing in microbial risk assessment},

author = {K Van Hoorde and F Butler},

url = {https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16086},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.e16086},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-01-01},

journal = {EFSA Journal},

volume = {16},

number = {S1},

pages = {e16086},

abstract = {Abstract Despite the ever increase in rigorous control and monitoring measures to assure safe food along the entire farm-to-fork chain, the past decade has also witnessed an increase in microbial food alerts. Hence, research on food safety and quality remain of utmost importance. Complementary, and at least as important, is the necessity to be able to assess the potential microbial risks along the food chain. Risk assessment relies on sound scientific data. Unfortunately, often, quality data are limited if not lacking. High-throughput tools such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) could fill this gap. NGS approaches can be used to generate ample qualitative and quantitative data to be used in the risk assessment process. NGS applications are not new in food microbiology with applications ranging from pathogen detection along the food chain, food epidemiology studies, whole genome analysis of food-associated microorganisms up to describing complete food microbiomes. Yet, its application in the area of microbial risk assessment is still at an early stage and faces important challenges. The possibilities of NGS for risk assessment are ample, but so are the questions on the subject. One of the major strengths of NGS lies in its capacity to generate a lot of data, but to what extend can this wealth be of use in hazard identification, hazard characterisation and exposure assessment to perform a sound risk characterisation, which in turn will make it possible to take substantiated risk management decisions.},

keywords = {food safety, Illumina, microbial risk assessment, MinION, MiSeq, next-generation sequencing, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, whole genome sequencing},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}