Researchers have reported on issues found at a company linked to a Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 60 people in Italy in 2022.

The paper in the Italian Journal of Food Safety describes the investigation of a monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that occurred in the Marche region in 2022, linked to consumption of a roasted pork product.

In 2022, Italy reported 175 foodborne outbreaks involving 1,604 cases and resulting in 303 hospitalizations and 15 deaths. Salmonella was the pathogen responsible for most of the outbreaks and also caused a high number of cases. In 12 of 32 outbreaks, the food source involved was meat and meat products, mainly of pork origin.

Between July and September 2022, several reports of suspected food-related infections were shared by the Hygiene and Public Health Service in Fermo and neighboring provinces with the Animal Based Food Hygiene Service (ABFHS) of the Fermo Local Health Unit.

All 64 patients had common symptoms and fecal samples were positive for Salmonella. Some of them also reported eating a roasted pork product bought or consumed at various places and at different times but produced at the same processing plant in the Fermo area.

Thirty-three of the 64 patients were male, and the most affected age group was 5 to 14 years old, with 26 cases. At least 29 people were hospitalized.

Company’s role in managing risk
Researchers said supporting the epidemiological investigation with environmental sampling made it possible to correlate the source of infection (porchetta) with the clinical cases.

ABFHS inspected the site and two retail stores. Three samples of porchetta and 23 environmental samples were collected for Salmonella testing. Salmonella was detected from four environmental swabs and one porchetta sample.

The positive swabs were unsanitized surfaces in contact with the roasted pork: a transporting board for cooked porchetta at the plant, a teflon chopping board for supporting and cutting porchetta at one retail store, and a wooden chopping board for porchetta and the knife at the third store. The product sample, which tested positive for Salmonella, was also collected at this site.

An inspection at the food-processing plant revealed structural, sanitation, and documentary deficiencies regarding the procedures for good manufacturing and hygiene practices and those based on HACCP principles. The producer did not correctly identify critical control points (CCPs) in the porchetta processing steps by managing cooking and subsequent chilling as good manufacturing practices (GMPs).

No structural and sanitation non-conformities were found at one retail site but at the other there was a lack of hygiene and non-compliance with product storage procedures.

Corrective measures at the porchetta processing plant and the retail stores involved were carried out by the local food hygiene service.

Following the results of inspections and sampling, porchetta production was suspended but resumed about six weeks later after a further inspection noted improvements.

The inspection revealed issues with how HACCP principles were applied by the company.

“In the porchetta production HACCP plan, the only CCP highlighted by the food business was cold storage, while cooking and subsequent refrigeration were treated as GMP,” said researchers.

“Cooking at the appropriate time and temperature is considered the only phase that can confer adequate sanitary and hygienic properties to the final product due to the inactivation of all non-spore-forming pathogens; subsequent blast chilling and storage at refrigeration temperature do not allow the proliferation of heat-resistant bacteria. Therefore, the simple application of good cooking and blast chilling practices does not provide a sufficient guarantee against microbiological hazards such as Salmonella.”

(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)