Surface Hygiene Evaluation Method in Food Trucks as an Important Factor in the Assessment of Microbiological Risks in Mobile Gastronomy

Abstract

Street food outlets are characterised by poor microbiological quality of the food and poor hygiene practices that pose a risk to consumer health. The aim of the study was to evaluate the hygiene of surfaces in food trucks (FT) using the reference method together with alternatives such as PetrifilmTM and the bioluminescence method. TVC, S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. were assessed. The material for the study consisted of swabs and prints taken from five surfaces (refrigeration, knife, cutting board, serving board, and working board) in 20 food trucks in Poland. In 13 food trucks, the visual assessment of hygiene was very good or good, but in 6 FTs, TVC was found to exceed log 3 CFU/100 cm2 on various surfaces. The assessment of surface hygiene using various methods in the food trucks did not demonstrate the substitutability of culture methods. PetrifilmTM tests were shown to be a convenient and reliable tool for the monitoring of mobile catering hygiene. No correlation was found between the subjective visual method and the measurement of adenosine 5-triphosphate. In order to reduce the risk of food infections caused by bacteria in food trucks, it is important to introduce detailed requirements for the hygiene practices used in food trucks, including techniques for monitoring the cleanliness of surfaces coming into contact with food, in particular cutting boards and work surfaces. Efforts should be focused on introducing mandatory, certified training for food truck personnel in the field of microbiological hazards, appropriate methods of hygienisation, and hygiene monitoring.

Food safety: Cleanliness and disinfection of food contact surfaces in gastronomy laboratories at a university in Colombia

“…This method detected that all the surfaces were unsatisfactory in terms of cleanliness; nevertheless, the bioluminescence assay can be highly variable in determining bacteria present on surfaces due to the presence of organic material that cannot be distinguished from the different types of microorganisms. Values obtained in this study are similar to those reported by Wiatrowski et al (2023), on five different surfaces on a mobile gastronomy truck (shelf of a refrigerator, cutting board, small utensil such as a knife, serving surface, and worktop surface). Additionally, the amount of ATP that a cell contains depends on its size and vital state so this can underestimate the number of cells viable but not cultivable (Ríos-Castillo et al, 2021).…”

“…were detected. These bacteria are indicators of a dirty environment, unhygienic production procedures, and poor water quality (Wiatrowski et al, 2023). Work areas, cutting boards, sinks, and kitchen faucets are recognized as important surfaces in food service facilities that might result in cross-contamination of food, especially if these surfaces are contaminated by mesophilic aerobic bacteria (Rodríguez et al, 2011).…”

“…Additionally, color cutting boards should be used to separate different types of foods, such as dairy and bread (white), raw red meat (red), vegetables and fruits (green), poultry (yellow), raw seafood (blue), and cooked meat (brown), helping to reduce the risk of cross contamination (National Environmental Agency, 2016). Microbiological cleanliness for cutting boards depended on the length of time the boards had been in use; only new boards had high cleanliness levels (Wiatrowski et al, 2023). Most often food contact materials found in food preparation settings are stainless steel, plastics, and ceramics (Djekic et al, 2016), while rougher, more hydrophobic, and crusted surface materials have a favoring effect on the attachment of bacteria and the biofilm formation (Lee et al, 2022).…”

“…Ready to use methods that detect microbial or organic loads are an alternative to rapidly assessing the hygienic status of food contact surfaces. The indirect method of hygiene evaluation using the measurement of ATP levels is one of the fastest measurement methods compared to culture methods, with results obtained in just a few seconds (Wiatrowski et al, 2023). To correlate the results from the culture methods, ATP measurement was carried out.…”