Faced with the globalization of trade and new consumption patterns, consumer expectations are changing and becoming stricter. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns about zoonoses and their multiple routes of transmission have been at the heart of questions in the medical and scientific world. The main issue: protect the consumer mastering the dangers”from fork to fork“, explains ANSES, this February 25, 2022.
But certain already known risks remain difficult to control. In Europe in 2020, cases of campylobacteriosis amounted to 120,946 cases, compared to 52,702 for salmonellosis, i.e. two very common infectious diseases, caused by bacteria already present on the animal. But these figures would be largely underestimated: according to one French Public Health study in 2015, there were actually over 500,000 cases of campylobacteriosis and 200,000 cases of salmonellosis. A drop was noted in 2020, but it results in particular from the closure of collective catering spaces during the multiple periods of confinement. Collective catering is indeed responsible for many poisonings.
Good practices to adopt
Consumers have more and more expectations: animal welfare, environmental protection, nutritional quality… They will look for solutions by moving in particular towards food supplements or exclusion diets, especially of based on animal protein. They will also question themselves on new themes such as chrononutrition, the frequency of food intake. Habits on which ANSES provides increased monitoring.
The evolution of consumption habits can be seen particularly through the eating new foods. In recent years, ANSES has noted the increase in the consumption of raw fish, especially with sushi, or Chinese fondue, a traditional dish in which raw meat is cooked in an oil broth. These new consumptions lead to dangers, both at the biological level (presence of parasites in the skin of the fish for example), microbiological (Listeria, salmonella, etc.) and chemical.
Consumption that it is important to control with simple hygiene measures. “Beyond the Chinese fondue, other modes of consumption, such as pierrade, where raw meat is put on the table, are also concerned: the deposit of raw meat on the plate of the guest, cooking, then returning the meat cooked on the same plate should be avoided, the use of separate plates and utensils for raw meat would be preferred“, explains Nicolas Eterradossi, director of the Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort laboratory.
Putting the consumer at the heart of the vigilance process
Increased monitoring is therefore necessary on the part of farms and distributors, but also on the part of consumers. Since 2009, ANSES has created the Nutrivigilence device, which makes it possible to report adverse effects by involving the population in particular. In the worst case, products may be pulled from the big box shelves.
Taking animal welfare into account could also reduce the risk of contamination. “Some bacteria such as campylobacter only turn into an infectious disease once they have passed from animals to humans“, warns Marianne Chemaly, head of the Hygiene and quality unit for poultry and pork products at the Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort laboratory.
Sources:
- Science for safe and healthy foodANSES, February 2022
- Report on surveillance of Campylobacter infections in France in 2015, Santé Publique France
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- Food poisoning: what are the symptoms that should alert?