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Food safety on board tankers. Results of analysis from ‘Healthy Ship’ project
Affiliations- University of Camerino, School of Medicinal and Health Products Sciences, Camerino, Italy
- Research Department, International Radiomedical Centre (CIRM), Rome, Italy
open access
Abstract
Background: Microbiological monitoring of surfaces used for food preparation, as required by the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan, is important in risky conditions as those observed in the kitchens of ships. Limits to introduce a classification of risk levels and methods to adopt in conditions as those occurring in tankers have not been investigated. This paper presents the results of the “Healthy Ship” project on HACCP monitoring of surfaces used in food preparation on Italian flag tankers.
Materials and methods: Microbiological monitoring was carried out on 19 tankers between 2013 and 2017. Food handlers were also trained on board ship according to HACCP standards. Contact plates (ISO 18593:2004 compliant) were used to determine the colonies and bacterial charge according to the Wirtanen and Salo’s method.
Results: A total of 1074 samples, 108 before the first course, 168 after the first course, 390 during the period of refresher (2015–2016), and 408 after the refresher training, were obtained from the three main kitchen surfaces: the worktop, cutting board, and kitchen sink. A good level of hygiene was observed in 56.9% of all samples, 0.1% were classified as adequate, and the remaining 43% as poor. The highest contamination was observed on the cutting board and kitchen sink and involved the total aerobic count. The only surface with inadequate levels of hygiene was the worktop. A reduction of contaminated samples was noted after training.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that continuous training should be provided for personnel responsible for handling foodstuffs on board ships.
Abstract
Background: Microbiological monitoring of surfaces used for food preparation, as required by the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan, is important in risky conditions as those observed in the kitchens of ships. Limits to introduce a classification of risk levels and methods to adopt in conditions as those occurring in tankers have not been investigated. This paper presents the results of the “Healthy Ship” project on HACCP monitoring of surfaces used in food preparation on Italian flag tankers.
Materials and methods: Microbiological monitoring was carried out on 19 tankers between 2013 and 2017. Food handlers were also trained on board ship according to HACCP standards. Contact plates (ISO 18593:2004 compliant) were used to determine the colonies and bacterial charge according to the Wirtanen and Salo’s method.
Results: A total of 1074 samples, 108 before the first course, 168 after the first course, 390 during the period of refresher (2015–2016), and 408 after the refresher training, were obtained from the three main kitchen surfaces: the worktop, cutting board, and kitchen sink. A good level of hygiene was observed in 56.9% of all samples, 0.1% were classified as adequate, and the remaining 43% as poor. The highest contamination was observed on the cutting board and kitchen sink and involved the total aerobic count. The only surface with inadequate levels of hygiene was the worktop. A reduction of contaminated samples was noted after training.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that continuous training should be provided for personnel responsible for handling foodstuffs on board ships.
Keywords
microbiological surveillance; food-handling; seafarers; HACCP; food hygiene; food safety
About this articleTitle
Food safety on board tankers. Results of analysis from ‘Healthy Ship’ project
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original article
Pages
68-75
Published online
2019-03-28
Page views
1552
Article views/downloads
1162
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
IMH 2019;70(1):68-75.
Keywords
microbiological surveillance
food-handling
seafarers
HACCP
food hygiene
food safety
Authors
Stefania Scuri
Fabio Petrelli
Iolanda Grappasonni
Marzio Di Canio
Andrea Saturnino
Fabio Sibilio
Francesco Amenta
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