Airborne microorganisms in food processing environments pose a potential risk for food product contamination. Yet, the absence of established standards or guidelines setting quantitative limits on airborne microorganisms underscores a critical gap in current regulatory frameworks. This review seeks to explore the feasibility of establishing quantitative limits for airborne microorganisms in food processing facilities, aiming to provide evidence-based guidance to enhance food safety practices in the industry. The review begins by addressing the complexities of microbial air quality in the food industry through a general literature search covering sources of airborne microorganisms, factors affecting particle deposition, air sampling methods and preventive measures. Subsequently, it employs a structured approach to assess the significance of air quality and its impact on product quality. Utilizing the PRISMA method, relevant scientific literature from May 2002 to May 2022 was examined, resulting in 26 articles meeting inclusion criteria from a pool of 11,737 original research papers. Additionally, the review investigates existing probability models for assessing airborne contamination to enhance air quality risk assessment in food safety management systems. The literature reveals a lack of substantial evidence supporting a direct correlation between airborne microorganisms and food contamination. The absence of standardized air sampling methodologies in previous studies hinders the comparability and reliability of research findings. Additionally, the literature fails to establish a conclusive relationship between influencing factors such as total particle counts, temperature, relative humidity and airborne contamination. Contradictory probability models for quantifying airborne contamination, and the absence of tailored preventive measures, hinder effective control and undermine microbial contamination control in diverse food processing contexts. In conclusion, the development of numeric guidelines for airborne contamination necessitates a tailored approach, considering factors such as product characteristics and production context. By integrating risk assessment models into this process, a more thorough comprehension of contamination risks can be achieved, providing tailored guidance based on the identified risk levels for each product. Ongoing collaborative efforts are essential to develop evidence-based guidelines that effectively mitigate risks without incurring unnecessary costs.

COVID-19 has become a public health emergency and pandemic of global concern, and the hundreds of millions of foodborne illnesses that occur each year also wreak havoc on human lives, society and the economy. Promoting workers in food service establishments to adhere to the hygiene practices in the WHO guidelines is a two-birds-one-stone strategy in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and limiting the occurrence of foodborne illness. The aim of this study was to determine the drivers that motivate workers to adhere to hygiene practices based on social cognitive theory.
The cross-sectional survey targeting food workers using face-to-face interviews was conducted from July to September 2022. Stratified random sampling and convenience sampling were employed to locate survey sites and respondents, respectively. The survey uses a credible questionnaire evaluated by multiple reliability and validity measures. Binary logistic regression was employed to identify significant determinants of adherence to WHO-initiated hygiene practices.
A total of 900 workers were interviewed and 609 valid questionnaires were received. The study showed that the average correct rate of knowledge about hygiene practices was only 51.09%, that perceived non-adherence to hygiene practices was most likely to result in lower customer satisfaction and the spread of COVID-19, and that only about 11.7% of the workers always adhered to hygiene practices. Three of the cognitive dimensions in the personal factors, self-efficacy, risk perception, and knowledge, had significant positive effects on adherence practices. Among the demographic variables, there were significant differences in adherence practices differing by income level and place of residence.
It was found that workers\' knowledge of the WHO-initiated hygiene practices is insufficient and that the frequency of adherence to hygiene practices is poor and require improvement. The significant drivers and effects of demographic variables provide evidence-based guidance to identify priority intervention information and populations to improve worker hygiene practices.

Contaminated irrigation water is among many potential vehicles of human pathogens to food plants, constituting significant public health risks especially for the fresh produce category. This review discusses some available guidelines or regulations for microbiological safety of irrigation water, and provides a summary of some common methods used for characterizing microbial contamination. The goal of such exploration is to understand some of the considerations that influence formulation of water testing guidelines, describe priority microbial parameters particularly with respect to food safety risks, and attempt to determine what methods are most suitable for their screening. Furthermore, the review discusses factors that influence the potential for microbiologically polluted irrigation water to pose substantial risks of pathogenic contamination to produce items. Some of these factors include type of water source exploited, irrigation methods, other agro ecosystem features/practices, as well as pathogen traits such as die-off rates. Additionally, the review examines factors such as food safety knowledge, other farmer attitudes or inclinations, level of social exposure and financial circumstances that influence adherence to water testing guidelines and other safe water application practices. A thorough understanding of relevant risk metrics for the application and management of irrigation water is necessary for the development of water testing criteria. To determine sampling and analytical approach for water testing, factors such as agricultural practices (which differ among farms and regionally), as well as environmental factors that modulate how water quality may affect the microbiological safety of produce should be considered. Research and technological advancements that can improve testing approach and the determination of target levels for hazard characterization or description for the many different pollution contexts as well as farmer adherence to testing requirements, are desirable.

Traditional food markets frequently have inadequate infrastructure, limited access to potable water, unsanitary conditions, and inadequate storage facilities, making them especially risky places for the growth and spread of foodborne pathogens. Traditional markets also often lack effective government oversight. Government programs are important for providing a foundation to manage food safety by setting and enforcing minimum food safety and quality standards and by establishing uniform standards for the conduct of food businesses. Four regional guidelines developed by the Codex Alimentarius to improve the safety of street-vended food were examined for their application to traditional food markets. These guidelines provide important standards that can be used to improve food safety in traditional food markets in many countries, including advice to governments and market authorities in the areas of policy and regulation, infrastructure, food handling, vendor health and hygiene, and training and education. The guidelines can be supplemented with additional material from the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. However, given the gaps identified in the individual regional guidelines, a uniform international standard is needed for national, regional, and local governments to use when managing food safety in traditional markets.

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A consensus workshop on low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) was held in November 2018 where seventeen experts (the panel) discussed three themes identified as key to the science and policy of LCS: (1) weight management and glucose control; (2) consumption, safety and perception; (3) nutrition policy. The aims were to identify the reliable facts on LCS, suggest research gaps and propose future actions. The panel agreed that the safety of LCS is demonstrated by a substantial body of evidence reviewed by regulatory experts and current levels of consumption, even for high users, are within agreed safety margins. However, better risk communication is needed. More emphasis is required on the role of LCS in helping individuals reduce their sugar and energy intake, which is a public health priority. Based on reviews of clinical evidence to date, the panel concluded that LCS can be beneficial for weight management when they are used to replace sugar in products consumed in the diet (without energy substitution). The available evidence suggests no grounds for concerns about adverse effects of LCS on sweet preference, appetite or glucose control; indeed, LCS may improve diabetic control and dietary compliance. Regarding effects on the human gut microbiota, data are limited and do not provide adequate evidence that LCS affect gut health at doses relevant to human use. The panel identified research priorities, including collation of the totality of evidence on LCS and body weight control, monitoring and modelling of LCS intakes, impacts on sugar reduction and diet quality and developing effective communication strategies to foster informed choice. There is also a need to reconcile policy discrepancies between organisations and reduce regulatory hurdles that impede low-energy product development and reformulation.

The international food safety environment is currently in a unique period of reevaluation and change. In an emerging trading environment regulated more according to food safety requirements than nontariff trade protection barriers, food safety risk analysis is pivotal to future Codex activities and implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. Development of guidelines for food safety risk assessment requires determination of scope, internationally agreed definitions, general principles, guidelines tailored for each class of foodborne hazards, and linkages and interactions with risk management and risk communication. Food safety risk assessments need to be soundly based on science, should incorporate the four analytical steps of the risk assessment paradigm, and should be documented in a transparent and readily understandable form. The particular needs of Codex, the WTO, national governments, industry, and consumers need to be taken into account, and this includes identification of the essential linkages between risk assessment and the design of HACCP plans. With respect to chemical hazards in food, a risk assessment approach provides the opportunity to broaden the understanding of acceptable daily intakes, maximum residue levels, and their public health significance. Guidelines for chemicals in foods will inevitably have to address the differences between safety evaluation and a genuine risk assessment approach. With respect to microbiological hazards, the unique problems associated with risk assessment of living organisms in food make it likely that application of guidelines in the medium term will more commonly use qualitative approaches. In the absence of a history of safety evaluation according to a notionally zero risk baseline, as is the case with chemicals, the objective of microbiological risk analysis to reduce microbial risks to \"the minimum which is technologically feasible and practical\" represents a genuine focus for risk assessment. As risk assessment is increasing applied and internationally accepted guidelines become established, decision criteria for risk management arguably present the greatest challenge in establishing and maintaining quantitative SPS measures for food in international trade and judging their equivalence. However, the desire of all interested parties for scientifically justified food safety measures may be tempered according to the ability of the global scientific community to generate the necessary data and the political will to accept food safety programmes in different countries that have equivalent outputs.

In Eastern Mediterranean countries, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies coexist with overnutrition-related diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Many Mediterranean countries have produced Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) to provide the general population with indications for healthy nutrition and lifestyles. This narrative review analyses Eastern Mediterranean countries\' FBDGs and discusses their pictorial representations, food groupings and associated messages on healthy eating and behaviours. In 2012, both the WHO and the Arab Center for Nutrition developed specific dietary guidelines for Arab countries. In addition, seven countries, representing 29% of the Eastern Mediterranean Region population, designated their national FBDGs. At the moment several of these guidelines are available only in the English language. In summary, Eastern Mediterranean FBDGs mainly focus on food safety, not all are available in the local Arabic language, and they do not provide specific suggestions for the large number of foreign workers and migrants.

Nearly half of all cases of foodborne illness are associated with plant-based foods such as leafy greens and raw flour. An important potential source of pathogen contamination along the food-production continuum is irrigation water, which has led to the implementation of increasingly stringent agricultural irrigation water quality requirements. To better understand factors impacting irrigation water quality, we investigated sources of generic Escherichia coli and how they varied temporally among different sampling sites. Precipitation, Campylobacter species distribution, and physicochemical water quality parameters were also investigated to substantiate microbial source tracking findings. Biweekly sampling was conducted at a reservoir outlet and two downstream canals in southern Alberta, Canada, throughout two irrigation seasons, the latter of which was notable for drought conditions. Overall, 50% of canal samples exceeded Alberta\'s irrigation guideline for E. coli (100 E. coli per 100 ml), whereas all reservoir samples were below guideline limits. Collectively, E. coli source apportionment, Campylobacter species distribution, and physicochemical water quality data suggest runoff from surrounding agricultural land was a contributing factor to E. coli guideline exceedances in Year 1 only. In Year 2, the majority of exceedances occurred later in the season when there was little precipitation and were largely attributed to cosmopolitan E. coli from wild birds and cattle. Similarities in E. coli host-source and Campylobacter species distributions between the reservoir and canals when the guideline was exceeded suggest the reservoir could be a primary source of E. coli during drought. Increased bacterial concentrations in canals were likely due to environmental conditions that promoted bacterial survival and in-situ proliferation. Our findings support previous accounts that many E. coli isolates possess enhanced survival capabilities, which has implications to bacterial water quality assessments and risk mitigation, particularly under drought conditions.

The present AST-IDCOP guidelines update information on strategies for safe living after organ transplantation. While transplantation carries an increased risk for infection from the recipient\'s environment due to lifelong immunosuppression, the goal is for the recipient to be able to return to their home and live as normal a life as possible with a functioning graft. The current guideline provides updates to prior recommendations including additions on infections from water and food sources, exposures to animals, cannabis use as well as sexual exposures or those encountered with travel. Similar to the prior editions, many of the recommendations are based on good infection prevention standards, extrapolation from other immunocompromised hosts, and risks found from cases series in transplant patients. Enhanced education and attention to incorporating safe living strategies into daily life should help to accomplish successful transplant with recipients achieving a fulfilling life away from the hospital.