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Evaluation of Hygienic Quality of Food Served in Universities Canteens of Northem Portugal

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Abstract

Mass catering services have increased in the last years since people need to eat out mainly by work or study reasons. Microbiological quality of foodstuffs (n = 156) was evaluated in 20 food establishment (cafes and canteens) of two universities of northern Portugal. Overall, data revealed a high level of microbiological quality of foods served. No safety risks for consumers were detected since Clostridium spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were not detected. Among food types, hot meals displayed better microbiological results than cold foods (p < 0.05) as expected. Regarding hot meals, no differences were observed among different types (p > 0.05). Among cold meals, salads displayed the highest microbiological counts for hygiene indicators as well for food foodborne pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. Although the risk of foodborne disease is scarce since counts were low. In cafes’ meals, higher counts were observed than in canteens’ meals which indicates that monitoring measures should be improved to avoid potential foodborne outbreaks related to the ready-to-eat products (salads, sandwiches and pastry). Results could be used as microbiological guidelines for canteens. Results indicated that proper food handling and adequate conservation of fresh foods along the food chain is essential in mass catering services to guarantee the food safety.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Projects UID/CVT/00772/2013, UID/CVT/00772/2016, UID/CVT/00772/2019 and UID/MULTI/04621/2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CECAV - Animal and Veterinary Research Centre, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    K. Soares, A. T. Moura, J. García-Díez, A. Esteves & C. Saraiva

  2. Department of Veterinary Sciences, School of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    J. García-Díez, A. Esteves & C. Saraiva

  3. CEMAT-IST-UL - Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    I. Oliveira

  4. Mathematics Department, School of Science and Technology, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    I. Oliveira

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  1. K. Soares
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Correspondence to C. Saraiva.

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Soares, K., Moura, A.T., García-Díez, J. et al. Evaluation of Hygienic Quality of Food Served in Universities Canteens of Northem Portugal. Indian J Microbiol 60, 107–114 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-019-00844-8

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