Fish processing plants still face microbial food safety-related product rejections and the associated economic losses, although they implement legislation, with well-established quality assurance guidelines and standards. We assessed the microbial performance of core control and assurance activities of fish exporting processors to offer suggestions for improvement using a case study. A microbiological assessment scheme was used to systematically analyze microbial counts in six selected critical sampling locations (CSLs). Nine small-, medium- and large-sized companies implementing current food safety management systems (FSMS) were studied. Samples were collected three times on each occasion (n = 324). Microbial indicators representing food safety, plant and personnel hygiene, and overall microbiological performance were analyzed. Microbiological distribution and safety profile levels for the CSLs were calculated. Performance of core control and assurance activities of the FSMS was also diagnosed using an FSMS diagnostic instrument. Final fish products from 67% of the companies were within the legally accepted microbiological limits. Salmonella was absent in all CSLs. Hands or gloves of workers from the majority of companies were highly contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus at levels above the recommended limits. Large-sized companies performed better in Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, and S. aureus than medium- and small-sized ones in a majority of the CSLs, including receipt of raw fish material, heading and gutting, and the condition of the fish processing tables and facilities before cleaning and sanitation. Fish products of 33% (3 of 9) of the companies and handling surfaces of 22% (2 of 9) of the companies showed high variability in Enterobacteriaceae counts. High variability in total viable counts and Enterobacteriaceae was noted on fish products and handling surfaces. Specific recommendations were made in core control and assurance activities associated with sampling locations showing poor performance.

Weak areas in performance of control and assurance activities in export fish-processing sector already implementing current quality assurance guidelines and standards were studied taking into consideration contextual pressure wherein the companies operate. Important mitigation measures toward improved contextual risk, core assurance, and control activities irrespective of applied food safety management systems in fish industries were suggested.

This study evaluated the microbiological safety of fresh Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from Kenyan fresh water fish value chains. One hundred seventy-six fish samples were analyzed. The microbial counts of hygiene indicators, total viable aerobic count (TVC), total coliforms, and fecal coliforms isolated by using culture techniques were enumerated, and microbial pathogens present in the fish samples were identified and characterized by using molecular methods. The diversity of bacterial isolates was determined by using the Shannon-Weaver diversity index. The mean of TVC in the samples was 4.44 log CFU/g. A comparison with the European Commission and International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods standards showed two fish samples had counts above the 5.00 log CFU/g limit for TVC, and all the fish samples had total coliform and fecal coliform counts above 2.00 and 1.00 log CFU/g, respectively. Pathogenic strains, including Shiga toxin–producing and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Salmonella enterica, were identified in the fish samples. The diversity of 1,608 bacterial isolates was higher in semiregulated chains than unregulated chains. The diversity was also high at the retail stage of the fish value chain. In conclusion, fresh Nile tilapia samples were above some of the set food safety standards and may be a source of foodborne pathogens. Further microbial risk assessment for detected pathogens is recommended to further support public health protection, taking into account growth, inactivation through cooking, processing, survival, and consumption.

The current study was designed to evaluate the potential impact of the level of regulation on the prevalence and patterns of antimicrobial agent resistance in bacteria isolated from fish. The study sites included two large lakes and both semi-regulated and unregulated fish value chains. A total of 328 bacterial isolates belonging to 11 genera were evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility testing using disk diffusion method. The bacteria species were tested against 12 different antibiotics (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid, amoxicillin, meropenem, ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, cefuroxime and kanamycin). Data analysis was done to assess the heterogeneity in proportion of resistant bacterial species within and between the two value chains using a random-effects model proposed by DerSimonian and Laird. Statistical heterogeneity within and between groups were estimated using the Cochran Chi -square test and the Cochrane- I 2 . Overall proportion of bacterial species resistant to antimicrobial agents in semi-regulated and unregulated value chains ranged from 0.00 to 0.88 and 0.09 to 0.95, respectively. Shigella spp. had the highest proportion of bacteria that were resistant against most of the antimicrobial agents used. The bacterial species were highly resistant to ampicillin and amoxicillin and the highest multi-drug resistance capacity was observed in Shigella spp. (18.3%, n = 328), Vibrio spp. (18.3%) and L. monocytogenes (12.2%). We observed strong heterogeneity within and between the two value chains regarding proportion of resistant bacterial species. Sun dried fish in both value chains had significantly high proportion of resistant bacterial species. Comparing the two value chains, unregulated value chain had significantly higher proportion of bacterial species that were resistant. In order to mitigate the risk of transmitting antimicrobial resistant bacteria to consumers along the fish value chain, good manufacturing practices coupled with identification and management of possible sources of contamination are recommended for fish and potentially other foods distributed along the less regulated value chains. Importance In order to mitigate the risk of transmitting antimicrobial resistant bacteria to consumers along the fish value chain, good manufacturing practices coupled with identification and management of possible sources of contamination are recommended for fish and potentially other foods distributed along the less regulated value chains.

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