Chapters authored
Food Safety Risk Management
Part of the book: Risk Management in Environment, Production and Economy
Risk Factors Influencing Microbial Contamination in Food Service Centers
An improvement of food service centers in recent years has been made based on the implementation of the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system. Food safety preventive measures have been focused on training of handlers in hygiene practices and on improving the sanitary quality of meals. In Europe, an increasing trend in foodborne outbreaks has been attributed to catering businesses. This fact highlights that the impact of preventive measures in the past few years has not been sufficiently effective as expected. Special attention should be paid to food services destined to susceptible population, such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, or school canteens, because people could be more susceptible to become ill when exposed to foodborne agents. There are numerous relevant factors influencing microbial contamination of foods, according to the preparation method, hygienic sanitary conditions of catering facilities, or food handling, storage, and distribution. In the present chapter, a review of the most significant risk factors influencing microbial contamination of foods in food service centers are described with special focus on those establishments where susceptible population (i.e., children, elderly, immunocompromised people) is present. Besides, potential preventive measures to be considered in that establishments and correct implementation of food safety actions are given to provide useful recommendations to food handlers, food operators, and risk managers.
Part of the book: Significance, Prevention and Control of Food Related Diseases
Diet Quality Indices for Nutrition Assessment: Types and Applications
According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) burden is foreseen to increase to 57% in 2020. Consumption patterns have a positive effect on healthy growth and development during childhood and adolescence, and on health problems in adulthood. Diet quality indices are mathematical algorithms used for nutritional epidemiology, aimed at quantifying the degree of adequacy between actual intakes of nutrients or food groups within a population and the reference intakes, which are established based on scientific facts assuring an optimal state of health while preventing consumers from chronic diseases. Similarly, indexes allow to analyse dietary pattern of target population and its consumption trends. In general the terms, DQI (Diet Quality Index), HDI (Healthy Diet Indicator) and MDS (Mediterranean Diet Score), are referred to three internationally recognized diet indexes, which several indices have been adapted from. This chapter includes an extensive review of existing diet indexes, 1) providing a brief description of the most relevant ones, 2) highlighting the weaknesses and strengths and 3) defining the suitable scope of application of each index.
Part of the book: Functional Food
Food Quality Management Systems in the Dairy Industry: A Case Study on the Application of Predictive Microbiology in the Microbial Quality of Milk
Agri-food industries must guarantee the safety of the produced foods through the application of the existing regulations, by correctly implementing quality control systems. In relation to the quality of drinking milk, it is extremely important to monitor the industrial treatments to which it is subjected to avoid the multiplication of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Raw milk must undergo strict quality controls at the primary production level based on the knowledge of the main factors that influence their quality and microbiological safety: hygienic practices, health status of cows, frequency and moment of collection, storage temperature and time of transportation. To improve food safety and estimate food shelf life, predictive microbiology is a widely used tool for the estimation of microbial behavior as a function of intrinsic and extrinsic by using mathematical models. Throughout this chapter, a description of the current food quality management systems (FQMS) carried out by dairy industries will be provided by reflecting the current challenges, the guidelines, and available tools. A case study based on the application of predictive microbiology considering the importance of controlling certain factors in the primary production dairy chain will be developed.
Part of the book: Technological Approaches for Novel Applications in Dairy Processing