The European Food Safety Authority’s Panel on Biological Hazards (EFSA’s BIOHAZ Panel) recently published a scientific opinion that identified the most relevant persistent microorganisms in food and feed production environments to be Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Cronobacter sakazakii, as well as risk factors and interventions associated with these pathogens. The scientific opinion excluded primary production environments.
In context of the scientific opinion, “microbial persistence” was defined as the ability of a given organism to be established in niches (or harborage sites) within a food or feed production or processing environment (FFPE) over a long term, despite the frequent application of cleaning and disinfection. To be persistent, the microbe requires prolonged existence (spanning months or years), usually with multiplication of the microorganism in the specific FFPE. For its opinion, the BIOHAZ Panel considered the following sectors: feed for food animal production, meat (including slaughterhouses and processing plants), fish and seafood, dairy, egg and egg products, fruit and vegetables (including herbs), and low moisture food (LMF).