TY - JOUR T1 - Quantitative risk assessment of Campylobacter spp. in poultry based meat preparations as one of the factors to support the development of risk-based microbiological criteria in Belgium36769 JF - Int.J.Food Microbiol. Y1 - 2006 A1 - Uyttendaele,M. A1 - Baert,K. A1 - Ghafir,Y. A1 - Daube,G. A1 - L. De Zutter A1 - Herman,L. A1 - Katelijne Dierick A1 - Denis PiƩrard A1 - Dubois,J.J. A1 - Horion,B. A1 - Debevere,J. KW - a KW - an KW - analysis KW - Animals KW - approach KW - approaches KW - article KW - AS KW - assessment KW - Belgium KW - Campylobacter KW - Chickens KW - Colony Count,Microbial KW - consumer KW - Consumer Product Safety KW - criteria KW - data KW - demand KW - Development KW - Disease Outbreaks KW - distribution KW - Eating KW - Engineering KW - Exercise KW - exposure KW - factors KW - Faculty KW - Follow KW - food KW - Food Contamination KW - Food Handling KW - Food Microbiology KW - growth & development KW - Humans KW - im KW - Impact KW - Industries KW - Industry KW - INFORMATION KW - IS KW - isolation & purification KW - IT KW - journal KW - KNOWLEDGE KW - Laboratories KW - LEVEL KW - limitation KW - means KW - Meat KW - Meat Products KW - methods KW - microbiology KW - MODEL KW - models KW - Models,Biological KW - national KW - Objective KW - observed KW - ON KW - Poultry KW - preservation KW - prevention & control KW - Print KW - PRODUCTS KW - PROGRAM KW - Programs KW - reducing KW - Reduction KW - relative KW - risk KW - Risk Assessment KW - SB - IM KW - situation KW - STANDARD KW - study KW - Surveillance KW - Technique KW - TESTING KW - time KW - Times KW - treatment KW - Type KW - Universities KW - university AB - The objective of this study was to do an exercise in risk assessment on Campylobacter spp. for poultry based meat preparations in Belgium. This risk assessment was undertaken on the demand of the competent national authorities as one of the supportive factors to define risk-based microbiological criteria. The quantitative risk assessment model follows a retail to table approach and is divided in different modules. The contamination of raw chicken meat products (CMPs) was represented by a normal distribution of the natural logarithm of the concentration of Campylobacter spp. (ln[Camp]) in raw CMPs based on data from surveillance programs in Belgium. To analyse the relative impact of reducing the risk of campylobacteriosis associated with a decrease in the Campylobacter contamination level in these types of food products, the model was run for different means and standard deviations of the normal distribution of the ln[Camp] in raw CMPs. The limitation in data for the local situation in Belgium and on this particular product and more precisely the semi-quantitative nature of concentration of Campylobacter spp. due to presence/absence testing, was identified as an important information gap. Also the knowledge on the dose-response relationship of Campylobacter spp. was limited, and therefore three different approaches of dose-response modelling were compared. Two approaches (1 and 2), derived from the same study, showed that the reduction of the mean of the distribution representing the ln[Camp] in raw CMPs is the best approach to reduce the risk of Campylobacter spp. in CMPs. However, for the simulated exposure and approach 3 it was observed that the reduction of the standard deviation is the most appropriate technique to lower the risk of campylobacteriosis. Since the dose-response models used in approach 1 and 2 are based on limited data and the reduction of the mean corresponds with a complete shift of the contamination level of raw CMPs, demanding high efforts from the poultry industry, it is proposed to lower the standard deviation of the concentration of Campylobacter spp. in raw CMPs. This proposal corresponds with the elimination of the products that are highly contaminated. Simulation showed that eating raw chicken meat products can give rise to exposures that are 10(10) times higher than when the product is heated, indicating that campaigns are important to inform consumers about the necessity of an appropriate heat treatment of these type of food products VL - 111 CP - 2 U1 - 38407 M3 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2006.05.023 ER -