Evaluation of the food safety management system in a hospital food service operation toward Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe unique aspects of a hospital environment, such as the multitude of dietary needs and thus the variety of meals to be served and incoming (raw) materials to be used, challenge the development and application of appropriate control and assurance measures to guarantee food safety. Besides, Listeria monocytogenes is considered a risk for most food service operations producing and serving ready-to-eat foods. Therefore the food safety management system of a hospital food service operation has been evaluated toward L. monocytogenes with an extensive questionnaire in the preset of this case study. In addition, 49 samples of food products and 145 environmental samples were taken and analyzed for L. monocytogenes to verify the implemented control measures. From this case study, it becomes clear that incoming (raw) materials, produced final products and their immediate supply to patients/consumers are high risk situations. This was demonstrated by the presence of L. monocytogenes in six incoming (raw) materials (n ¼ 19) and one final product (n ¼ 9). These risky situations are in need to be mitigated by the implementation of proper control measures, e.g. intensified supplier control, low storage temperatures, cleaning and disinfection to control cross-contamination. However major improvements can be made on the hygienic design of equipment and facilities and on the level of the sampling design. In terms of assurance activities, such as setting up a sampling plan, only a basic level was obtained for the validation and verification of their food safety management system. This case study illustrates that the combination of data from the questionnaire together with data of the sampling result in an overview on the performance of the current food safety management system and that major non-compliances and possibilities for improvement in the system can be defined.

Behind the Closed Doors: Performance Assessment of Food Safety Management Systems in Five-Star Hotels in Egypt

“…These approaches are perceived as general tools that focus on the implementation and evaluation of FSMS principles in the food industry. For instance, FSMS-DI is composed of extensive lists of evidence used to analyze key control and assurance practices routed to the firm's specific FSMS (Lahou et al, 2015;Tzamalis et al, 2016). Initially, these diagnostic tools were developed within the European context.…”

“…In later stages, it was expanded to measure the performance of FSMS in non-European contexts (e.g. Osei-Kofi, 2011;Luning et al, 2013;Jacxsens et al, 2015;Lahou et al, 2015;Ren et al, 2016;Tzamalis et al, 2016, Xiong et al, 2017. However, studies on FSMS in the hotel industry in Egypt are yet limited to the extent to which food safety systems and quality standards are implemented and the factors that influence such implementation (Abd El-Fattah and Fouad 2013;Ibrahim and Ibrahim, 2014;Elias et al, 2016).…”

Effects of HACCP on process hygiene in different types of Serbian food establishments

“…Food contact surfaces (FCS) include food containers, utensils, slicing machine, plates, cooking kettle, cutting boards, slicers, knifes, steel pallets and spatulas, stainless steel gastronomes and plastic recipients for the food distribution (Garayoa et al, 2014;Lahou, Jacxsens, Verbunt, & Uyttendaele, 2015). These surfaces are considered as a major concern for food service facilities in controlling the spread of food-borne pathogens because crosscontamination via FCS has been identified as a significant risk factor (Cosby et al, 2008).…”

Food Supply Chain Safety Risk Evaluation Based on AHP Fuzzy Integrated Evaluation Method

“…The comprehensive evaluation method developed in this paper can effectively overcome the shortcomings of traditional single-factor evaluation and offer the qualitative and quantitative advantages of expert survey and basic data research as well. E. Lahou, L. Jacxsens, E. Verbunt, M. Uyttendaele evaluated the food safety of the hospital [2]. They evaluated the food safety management system of a hospital food service operation.…”