Researchers have reported on problems found at a company linked to a Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 60 people in Italy in 2022.
The paper in the Italian food safety magazine describes the investigation of a monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that occurred in the Marche region in 2022, linked to the consumption of a roasted pork product.
In 2022, Italy reported 175 foodborne outbreaks, involving 1,604 cases and resulting in 303 hospitalizations and 15 deaths. Salmonella was the pathogen responsible for most outbreaks and also caused a large number of cases. In 12 of the 32 outbreaks, the food source involved was meat and meat products, mainly from pork.
Between July and September 2022, several reports of suspected food-related infections were shared by the Hygiene and Public Health Service in Fermo and neighboring provinces with the Animal Based Food Hygiene Service (ABFHS) of the Local Health Unit of Fermo.
All 64 patients had common symptoms and fecal samples were positive for Salmonella. Some of them also reported eating a roasted pork product that had been purchased or consumed in different places and at different times, but which had been produced in the same processing plant in the Fermo area.
Thirty-three of the 64 patients were men, and the most affected age group was 5 to 14 years old, with 26 cases. At least 29 people were hospitalized.
The role of the company in managing risks
Researchers said that supporting the epidemiological study with environmental samples made it possible to correlate the source of the infection (porchetta) with the clinical cases.
ABFHS inspected the site and two stores. Three verandatta samples and 23 environmental samples were collected for Salmonella testing. Salmonella was detected in four environmental swabs and one porch sample.
The positive swabs were non-sanitized surfaces that came into contact with the roasted pork: a transport board for cooked verandatta at the factory, a Teflon cutting board for supporting and cutting the verandatta at one store, and a wooden cutting board for the verandatta and the knife in the third store. shop. The product sample, which tested positive for Salmonella, was also collected at this location.
An inspection at the food processing plant revealed structural, sanitary and documentary deficiencies related to good manufacturing and hygiene practice procedures and those based on HACCP principles. The producer did not correctly identify the critical control points (CCPs) in the steps of verandatta processing by considering the cooking and subsequent cooling as good manufacturing practices (GMPs).
While one store location had no structural and sanitary deficiencies, the other showed lack of hygiene and failure to adhere to product storage procedures.
Corrective actions at the Poretta processing plant and affected stores were implemented by the local food hygiene department.
Following the results of inspections and sampling, Poretta production was suspended but resumed approximately six weeks later after improvements were noted during a new inspection.
The inspection revealed problems with the way the HACCP principles were applied by the company.
“In the HACCP plan for Porchetta production, the only CCP emphasized by the food industry was cold storage, while cooking and subsequent refrigeration were treated as GMP,” researchers said.
“Cooking at the right time and temperature is considered the only stage that can confer adequate sanitary and sanitary properties to the final product thanks to the inactivation of all non-spore-forming pathogens; subsequent rapid cooling and storage at refrigerated temperature do not allow the proliferation of heat-resistant bacteria. Therefore, the simple application of good cooking and chilling practices does not provide sufficient assurance against microbiological hazards such as Salmonella.”
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