Semi-quantitative Risk Assessment of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. in Processed Meat Products in Various Regions of Thailand

Abstract

       Food poisoning is one of the public health problems in Thailand and it is usually caused by ingestion of food contaminated with some microorganisms, especially bacteria. Practically, microbiological testing of processed foods is usually used to evaluate the quality of food whether it conforms to the food standards or not. However, it would be better if we could assess the risk from food consumption, especially the food that has not been thoroughly cooked. This study aimed to assess the semi-quantitative risk from consuming meat products contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. The risk was evaluated by using the correlation between the prevalence of pathogens and the impact of exposure to them and was reported as Probability-Impact (P-I) scores which indicated the risk severity levels. A total of 436 samples of northeastern fermented pork (Isan) sausages, fermented pork (naem), ham and Chinese sausages were collected from markets and supermarkets in 15 provinces of Thailand between January and August 2018. It was found that the risk of sickness from consuming pork sausages, ham and Chinese sausages collected from all provinces was at low severity (P-I scores = 5). The risk of sickness from consuming Isan sausages and naem collected from southern provinces was at low severity (P-I scores = 5), while the risk of consuming those collected from other parts of Thailand was at moderate severity (P-I scores = 6). Thus, the management to reduce the risk of illness by responsible persons throughout the food production cycle should be done eff ectively by responsible persons including the manufaturers with risk awareness. Eff orts related to consumer education and strict law enforcement by the regulators must be continuously implemented for consumer protection purposes. The study results could be used as a model by the public and private sectors for microbiological semi-quantitative risk assessment in compliance with relevant laws and international standards.