Time-temperature profiles and Listeria monocytogenes presence in refrigerators from households with vulnerable consumers

Publication date: Available online 23 December 2019Source: Food ControlAuthor(s): Loredana Dumitrașcu, Anca Ioana Nicolau, Corina Neagu, Pierrine Didier, Isabelle Maitre, Christophe Nguyen-The, Silje Elisabeth Skuland, Trond Møretrø, Solveig Langsrud, Monica Truninger, Paula Teixeira, Vânia Ferreira, Lydia Martens, Daniela BordaAbstractA transdisciplinary observational study, coupled with a web-based survey, was conducted to investigate refrigerated storage of food, in five European countries. The investigated consumer groups in this study were: young families with small children and/or pregnant women, elderly people, persons with an immunodeficient system, and young single men. The refrigerator temperature was monitored for approximately two weeks using a temperature data logger. Variables such as country, income, age of refrigerators, education, living area, refrigerator loading practices had no significant effect (p> 0.05) on the overall average fridge temperature, whereas consumers’ practices showed a significant influence (p < 0.05) on registered temperature values. Compared to temperatures inside the fridges belonging to young families and young single men group, the temperatures inside refrigerators belonging to elderly was in the temperature danger zone (5 – 63 °C). The lowest temperatures were recorded in UK consumers’ refrigerators, whereas the highest were in French households. Presence of Listeria monocytogenes was confirmed in three refrigerators o...
Source: Food Control - Category: Food Science Source Type: research