12 FOOD SAFETY SUPPLEMENT: MICROBIOLOGY


United States highlighted such consumer misuse. Although the product was intended to be cooked, a common practice revealed by the outbreak was that consumers were actually eating the raw cookie dough, which led to the Escherichia coliO157 outbreak. Consumption by teenagers of raw frozen pizzas has been also seen as an emerging consumption trend in the United States.


Food microbiologists will have a lot to do in


the next few decades and the food industry must carry on developing the critical mass of skilled food safety microbiologists in order to address on time and with the proper level of expertise the upcoming microbiological emerging or re-emerging issues. While the needs are obvious, the worldwide scientific community must realise that the


possess first class problem solving knowledge in addition to other specific soft skills to be able to interact with all partners along the food chain. The microbiological status of a food product at the time of consumption is a function of its history and a sound understanding of the complete farm to fork chain is mandatory, from the applied agricultural practices up to the consumer habits and behaviours. Food safety microbiologists are no longer scientists isolated in their laboratory. They need to open up to other tools and communities. It involves communicating better with each link of the food chain: suppliers, product developers, marketing decision makers and experts in consumer surveys. To achieve this, microbiologists in food industries must learn how to translate key science-based concepts to non-scientists.


Food Safety Microbiology at Nestlé Aware of the coming food safety challenges, Nestlé management has clearly demonstrated its commitment to Food Safety Microbiology by strongly supporting recruitment and development of microbiologists at the Nestlé Research Centre as well as in the other Research and Development Centres since 2009.


References


• Anonymous (2007). Testing – Food Microbiology in Focus: An Expert Roundtable. Available at: http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/article.asp?id=21 14&sub=sub1. Accessed September 8, 2011


Laurence Blayo and the Food Safety Microbiology team at Nestlé There is evidence that the modern


consumer devotes less time to food preparation and is increasingly using microwave ovens instead of standard ovens. This switch also has food safety implications because microwave heating of foods is not always uniform and consumers frequently do not microwave foods to a high enough temperature to kill harmful microbes.


Meeting the challenges – investing in people Because of ever-changing products, processes, food handling practices, consumption trends, globalisation of the food supply and evolution of pathogens, emerging microbiological food safety issues will continue to be an important public health concern and the expertise of microbiologists has never been more needed.


New Food Volume 14, Issue 5, 2011


discipline of food microbiology is losing experience. Some experienced food micro - biologists are soon at retirement age, and their real-world experience is not necessarily being transferred. There is an urgent need to create the next generation of microbiologists and to achieve it, universities are key partners to develop and foster strong educational programs responding to the upcoming challenges as well as to the needs of food industries. While the microbial world and challenges


are evolving, the microbiology function also needs to evolve as well as the profile of food industry microbiologists. The microbiology function is a key function in the food industry and contributes far beyond typical laboratory testing of incoming samples and final product release testing. Besides strong scientific and technical skills, food microbiologists need to


• Havelaar, A. H., Brul, S., de Jong, A., de Jonge, R., Zwietering, M. H., ter Kuile, B. H. (2010). Future challenges to microbial food safety. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 139 (Supplement 1), pp. 79–94


•


IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) (2002). IFT expert report on emerging microbiological food safety issues. Implication for control in the 21st century. Available at: http://www.ift.org/knowledge-center/read-ift- publications/science-reports/expert-reports/. Accessed September 8, 2011


• Nelson KE, Masters Williams C (2007). Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Theory and Practice. Second ed. Boston, MA, Jones and Bartlett, 2007


Laurence Blayo has been Group Leader Food Safety Microbiology at Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, since 2009, specialising in microbiological emerging issues and micro -


biological risk assessment. Before taking this position, Laurence filled a number of roles at Nestlé, including Quality & Food Safety System Project Manager and Food Safety Manager at Nestlé France. From 2003 – 2006, Laurence was Quality & Regulatory Affairs Manager for the Chilled Culinary Division at Herta France.


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