Monitoraggio ambientale di Listeria nell'industria alimentare: confronto di metodiche tradizionali e metodi rapidi

Since the '90s, the food industry has been involved in several crises and this has brought the issue of food security at the center of the legislature and the public. In particular the large food crises of those years (the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, contamination by dioxins and polychlorinated policrorurati) showed the weaknesses of the organization of the European Community in the context of food security, dramatically bringing to light the following points critical: ? Ineffective legislation (too fragmented, pointed to the control of the finished product and provided details unnecessary for the purposes of food safety); ? disorganization and lack of homogeneity of official controls, with organizational differences across Member States; ? The strategic importance of animal nutrition (the great crises have originated from problems connected to it); ? Difficulty in forecasting and crisis management, consumer confidence (need for effective early warning and product recall); As demonstrated by the subsequent problems emerged (Sudan Red, mycotoxins, endocrine disruptors, avian influenza, Isopropyl-ThioXanthone), food security emergency is permanent, since the risk factors and chances of contamination are manifold. All the raw materials, whether plant or animal origin, may in fact convey pathogenic microorganisms, plants or fungal toxins, residues of pesticides, drugs, food additives, environmental contaminants such as heavy metals, radionuclides and persistent chemicals. The innovations introduced first by EC Regulation 178/2002 and then the so-called "hygiene package" in 2004 which is the natural implementation take account of these points and through a process of awareness and responsibility involving all stakeholders in the agro-food chain, which take an active role from the primary producers to reach consumers. The main information of the new legislation will in fact a radical change in the approach to the problem of food security by so-called stakeholders (primarily producers, but also consumers) which should lead to greater awareness and awareness of responsibilities individual as well as business. The new European policy in the field of food was certainly induced by major crises and health emergencies actual or alleged occurred in a short time, and has adopted the fundamental principles expressed by the WHO and OIE (Office International des Epizooties) that argue that the food law, designed to reduce, eliminate or avoid a risk to health, should be based on risk analysis, meaning that the scientific method is divided into three phases of assessment, management and communication of risk. It 'aim, therefore, of this research, the evaluation of alternative methods and the ability in determining the risk associated with the presence in the environment of L. monocytogenes, throughout the production process, in order to know the distribution and therefore offer a tool on which to perform a risk analysis based on an objective basis and documented.