Former food products safety: microbiological quality and computer vision evaluation of packaging remnants contamination

Abstract

The use of alternative feed ingredients in farm animal's diets can be an interesting choice from several standpoints, including safety. In this respect, this study investigated the safety features of selected former food products (FFPs) intended for animal nutrition produced in the framework of the IZS PLV 06/14 RC project by an FFP processing plant. Six FFP samples, both mash and pelleted, were analysed for the enumeration of total viable count (TVC) (ISO 4833), Enterobacteriaceae (ISO 21528-1), Escherichia coli (ISO 16649-1), coagulase-positive Staphylococci (CPS) (ISO 6888), presumptive Bacillus cereus and its spores (ISO 7932), sulphite-reducing Clostridia (ISO 7937), yeasts and moulds (ISO 21527-1), and the presence in 25 g of Salmonella spp. (ISO 6579). On the same samples, the presence of undesired ingredients, which can be identified as remnants of packaging materials, was evaluated by two different methods: stereomicroscopy according to published methods; and stereomicroscopy coupled with a computer vision system (IRIS Visual Analyzer VA400). All FFPs analysed were safe from a microbiological point of view. TVC was limited and Salmonella was always absent. When remnants of packaging materials were considered, the contamination level was below 0.08% (w/w). Of note, packaging remnants were found mainly from the 1-mm sieve mesh fractions. Finally, the innovative computer vision system demonstrated the possibility of rapid detection for the presence of packaging remnants in FFPs when combined with a stereomicroscope. In conclusion, the FFPs analysed in the present study can be considered safe, even though some improvements in FFP processing in the feeding plant can be useful in further reducing their microbial loads and impurity.

Enhancing Pharmaceutical Packaging through a Technology Ecosystem to Facilitate the Reuse of Medicines and Reduce Medicinal Waste

“…Computer vision could be an alternative for visual inspection of microbial contamination, perhaps under ultraviolet light. However, the resolution for handheld cameras such as those in smartphones may need to be upgraded allowing the general public to conveniently capture and analyze the small particle size of contaminants [58]. An indirect method suggested for identifying potential contamination was to look for visible damage on the packaging [59,60].…”

Former Food Products Safety Evaluation: Computer Vision as an Innovative Approach for the Packaging Remnants Detection

“…Indeed, the contaminants in FFPs can include a wide range of colours, making it very difficult to distinguish packaging remnants from the background feed colours. In spite of that, Tretola and coauthors [12] found a discriminant colour code (4095), which always occurs in FFP's pictures where the presence of packaging remnants can be observed. The 4095 seems to be associated with the reflecting properties of packaging remnants.…”

“…In a recent study [12], six samples of mixed FFPs, mainly composed of bakery products collected in Italy, have been analyzed using the validated method [6]. In addition, in this study, the packaging remnant contamination level in pelleted FFPs samples has been also evaluated, combining the conventional method to the wet sieving procedure according to Marchis and coauthors (2016) [5] and Miladinovic (2009) [20].…”

“…Particles smaller than 1 mm are very difficult to handle and it has been suggested [6] that it is not necessary to separate the fraction with the smaller particles (<500 m). Likewise, recognition and quantification of particles smaller than the sieve mesh size of 400 m are difficult; therefore, these particles may be excluded from the total quantification [12]. The validated method has proven to be effective in the quantification of packaging materials also in low contaminated FFP samples; it is suitable in the evaluation of the heterogeneous remnants distribution among different sieve mash fractions both in mesh and in pelleted samples [5] and it can be useful in the recognition of the remnants nature, although with some exceptions.…”

“…To set tolerance area of the SQC graph, the software uses the following acceptability index (or rejection probability): acceptability = (1 − P rejection ) × 100 with 0 < P rejection < 1. In this scenario, Tretola and coauthors [12] have compared the validated method with the CV coupled with stereomicroscopy, as an innovative, rapid, and qualitative (presence/absence) approach for the evaluation of FFPs packaging contamination. Due to the small size of samples particles, it was not possible to obtain high resolution pictures for an appropriate image analysis by the use of a high resolution CV System CCD camera (IRIS Visual Analyzer VA400).…”