Diagnostic Methods & Bioassays Flashcards
What are the 5 components of diagnostic testing operations and bioassays?
- food type and environment
- sample collection plan
- hazard to be tested
- interpretation and decision based on lab results (hazard limits)
- analytical methods used for detection, enumeration, or quantification
What are the possible objects tested on diagnostic testing?
- meat
- whole edible egg after shell removal
- cheese
- whole fish/shellfish after shell, head, tail, and gut removal
- milk
- water
- utensils, equipment, surfaces
What food and environment sampling are done for diagnostic testing?
FOOD: raw ingredient or products in-process, ready for market, at grocery, or ready to eat
ENVIRONMENT: food contact surface, non-food contact surfaces (floors, drains, carts, equipment housing), water, air
What 4 parts are in the sampling plans?
- sample size
- sample type
- weight/volume per sample
- sampling interval per year
What sample size is recommended for diagnostic tests? What interval is usually used? What additional way does the USDA do?
33-60 —> quarterly
50 samples where 5 samples are collected weekly over 10 weeks
How much weight/volume is recommended for sampling different tests?
- meat: 25 g or 100 cm^2 swab
- whole egg, cheese, or fish/shellfish
- milk/water: 100 mL
- utensils, equipment, surfaces: 100 cm^2 swab
What are the 3 types of hazards in foods used for testing?
- Biological: microbiological, natural toxins, parasites
- Chemical: unapproved food or color additives, allergens, pesticide, natural toxins (mycotoxins, shellfish), drug residues
- Physical: metal, glass, sand, sharp materials
How are samples processed for biological hazards?
- mix sample in broth at 1:4 sample to broth ratio
- dilute each sample 10-fold dilution up to 10^-4
- subculture each dilution 8-48 hours in 5 tubes
How are samples processed for chemical hazards?
- collect samples
- grind, chop, homogenize
- inject 10-20 µL sample into analytical equipment
What quantitative test is used for detecting bacteria?
direct bacteria plating
- 1:4 dilution followed by 10-fold dilution up to 10^-4 and culture in agar
- plate 0.1 mL from test tubes and incubate on plates
- culture and count colonies
What are the 2 types of microbes found in the food supply chain?
- indicators or sanitary (GHP monitoring)
- dangerous pathogens (food safety)
What 3 counts are used to measure sanitary procedures? What are they 3 overall indicators for?
- coliform colony count
- mesophilic or aerobic colony count
- E. coli colony count
food quality, shelf-life, GHP at any stage in food supply chains
What are the 11 major dangerous pathogens that are used as indicators of food safety?
- Salmonella - all foods
- Shigella
- Yersinia
- Listeria - almost all foods
- Bacillus cereus - crop foods
- Vibrio spp. - seafood
- STEC - protein-rich foods
- Campylobacter - poultry, milk, water
- Norovirus
- Cyclospora
- Cryptosporidium
(occur in food at low incidence and in few food/animals)
In what 3 ways are samples of microbiological test interpreted?
- 2-class (qualitative/categorical)
- prevalence limit method
- 3-class (numerical/quantitative)
What prevalence demands corrective actions in pig, poultry, and beef? Recall?
PIG - > 6%
POULTRY - > 14%
BEEF - > 4%
(> 0%)
What are decisions based on in two-class decision plans? How are decisions made?
uses qualitative/categorical for microbial concentration in food samples based on presence/absence of pathogens in a food sample
decisions based on 25 g —> no bacteria = satisfactory; bacteria = potentially hazardous
(present/absent, satisfactory/unsatisfactory, accept/reject)
What are decisions based on in three-class decision plans? How are decisions made?
uses numerical values for microbial concentration in food samples based on cfu/g of pathogens
- < 10^2 = satisfactory
- 10^2 - 10^3 = marginal
- 10^3 - 10^4 = unsatisfactory
(satisfactory/borderline/unsatisfactory, accept/doubtful/unsatisfactory)