160
I.L.A. Boxman
Establishment: Design and Facilities
Sufficient numbers of personal hygiene facilities and toilets should be available and
located in proximity to the production or processing areas (but not open directly to
food handling areas), with adequate means for hygienically washing and drying
hands before returning to food handling area to ensure that an appropriate and
acceptable degree of personal hygiene can be maintained and to prevent food to
become contaminated by fecal waste.
Control of Operation
Control of human enteric viruses such as NoV and HAV in food will typically
require a stringent application of good hygienic practices, and other supportive
programs. In the guidelines the (often limited) effects of specific processing
procedures on virus infectivity in food are described. The effectiveness should be
evaluated using virus infectivity assays where possible. In addition, preferably raw
ingredients should be obtained only from suppliers or production plants with an
adequate food safety management system. Based on the determined level of risk
for the presence of viruses in a food product, a decision may be taken to recall
the contaminated product from the market. The need for public information and
communicated warnings should be considered.
Bivalve Molluscs and Control of Operation
Heat treatments of bivalve molluscs should be validated for their ability to inactivate
viruses. An internal temperature of 90
ı C for at least 90 s is considered to be a
virucidal treatment (Anon. 1992). However, this degree of cooking would probably
render specific bivalve molluscs, such as oysters, unpalatable to consumers. Even
though cooking temperatures typically used by consumers may not achieve 90
ı C
for at least 90 s and thus ensure inactivation of viruses, any cooking would
reduce viral levels and, depending on the initial level of contamination, could
reduce the risk of causing foodborne infection. The possible inability of home
or restaurant cooking to provide adequate assurance of consumer protection from
consuming virally contaminated bivalve molluscs in certain circumstances or forms
of consumption underlines the importance of harvesting bivalve molluscs from clean
water growing areas.
High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) may also reduce virus titers in bivalve molluscs
(Kingsley et al. 2009; Leon et al. 2011). The use of HHP alone or in combination
with other inactivation procedures should be validated for the virus of concern in
the specific bivalve mollusc species prior to its application.
I.L.A. Boxman
Establishment: Design and Facilities
Sufficient numbers of personal hygiene facilities and toilets should be available and
located in proximity to the production or processing areas (but not open directly to
food handling areas), with adequate means for hygienically washing and drying
hands before returning to food handling area to ensure that an appropriate and
acceptable degree of personal hygiene can be maintained and to prevent food to
become contaminated by fecal waste.
Control of Operation
Control of human enteric viruses such as NoV and HAV in food will typically
require a stringent application of good hygienic practices, and other supportive
programs. In the guidelines the (often limited) effects of specific processing
procedures on virus infectivity in food are described. The effectiveness should be
evaluated using virus infectivity assays where possible. In addition, preferably raw
ingredients should be obtained only from suppliers or production plants with an
adequate food safety management system. Based on the determined level of risk
for the presence of viruses in a food product, a decision may be taken to recall
the contaminated product from the market. The need for public information and
communicated warnings should be considered.
Bivalve Molluscs and Control of Operation
Heat treatments of bivalve molluscs should be validated for their ability to inactivate
viruses. An internal temperature of 90
ı C for at least 90 s is considered to be a
virucidal treatment (Anon. 1992). However, this degree of cooking would probably
render specific bivalve molluscs, such as oysters, unpalatable to consumers. Even
though cooking temperatures typically used by consumers may not achieve 90
ı C
for at least 90 s and thus ensure inactivation of viruses, any cooking would
reduce viral levels and, depending on the initial level of contamination, could
reduce the risk of causing foodborne infection. The possible inability of home
or restaurant cooking to provide adequate assurance of consumer protection from
consuming virally contaminated bivalve molluscs in certain circumstances or forms
of consumption underlines the importance of harvesting bivalve molluscs from clean
water growing areas.
High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) may also reduce virus titers in bivalve molluscs
(Kingsley et al. 2009; Leon et al. 2011). The use of HHP alone or in combination
with other inactivation procedures should be validated for the virus of concern in
the specific bivalve mollusc species prior to its application.