RAPID DETECTION METHODS USED IN FOOD INDUSTREY TO CONTROL FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS

RAPID DETECTION METHODS USED IN FOOD INDUSTREY TO CONTROL FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS

Santanu Nath¹, Susmita Majumder²

1. Division of Livestock Products Technology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)
2. Division of Physiology & Climatology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)

INTRODUCTION:

The incidence of foodborne diseases has increased over the years and resulted in major public health problem globally. Foodborne pathogens can be found in various foods, and it is important to detect foodborne pathogens to provide safe food supply and to prevent foodborne diseases. According to FAO/ WHO food safety is defined as “all conditions and measures that are necessary during production, processing, storage, distribution, and preparation of food to ensure that it is safe, sound, wholesome and fit for consumption. Food safety has become a global problem for human health, particularly in underdeveloped nations (Lv et al., 2018). Food hazards are any kind of biological, chemical, and physical agent in food which have the potential to causes adverse affect on human health. Any moment throughout food harvesting, processing, transportation, preparation, storage, and serving, these hazards may enter the food supply.

In most cases, consuming food or water that has been contaminated with bacteria or their toxins is what causes foodborne illnesses. Foodborne pathogens include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites and are pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses.Staphylococcus aureus,Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica,Escherichia coli O157:H7, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio spp., Clostridium perfringens, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli(STEC),and Campylobacter jejuni are the common foodborne pathogens that cause most foodborne disease outbreaks(Zhao et al., 2014).Over the past ten years, pathogens derived from animals and animal products have been responsible for around 75% of the new illnesses that have impacted humans.At several points throughout the food chain, including during manufacturing, processing, distribution, preparation, and/or ultimate consumption, food items may get contaminated. The health of the people handling the food, their personal cleanliness, and their understanding and application of food hygiene all have a significant role to minimize the risk of food contamination.(Getachew Gugsa and Meselu Ahmed, 2020).

Public health organisations are starting to express worry about ensuring food safety due to the rising popularity of street meals and the rising demand for minimally processed ready-to-eat items. Foodborne disease-causing organisms can be found in a variety of foods, including ready-to-eat items, fruits, vegetables, and prepared dishes (Lee et al., 2014).To provide a secure food supply and reduce the occurrence of foodborne illnesses, it is crucial to examine the food for the presence of foodborne pathogens.

Conventional methods are relied on the microorganisms’ capacity to proliferate in various culture media, including pre-enrichment media, selective enrichment media, and selective plating media, as results conventional approaches can be time-consuming.Typically, traditional procedures take two to three days for preliminary identification and more than a week for confirmation of the infections’ species.To get over the limits of traditional methods for the detection and diagnosis of foodborne pathogens, many fast approaches with high sensitivity and specificity have recently been devised(Law, J. W. F, et al. 2015).

CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD BORNE PATHOGEN:

Based on the severity of diseases microbial food borne pathogen areclassified as (Table no-1)

METHODS USED FOR RAPID DETECTION OF FOOD BORNE PATHOGENS:

Rapid detection techniques are often divided into three categories: nucleic acid-based, biosensor-based, and immunological-based techniques(Table no-2)(Goodrice et. al. 2011).

Nucleic acid-based:

Among all the rapid detection methods nucleic acid-based food pathogen detection methods are more commonly used because of its high-level specificity. Detecting particular DNA or RNA sequences in the target pathogen is how nucleic acid-based techniques work. To achieve this, the target nucleic acid sequence is hybridised to a synthetic oligonucleotide (probes or primers) that complements the target sequence (Law, J. W. F, et al. 2015 and Zhao et al., 2014).

Biosensor-based:

A biosensor is an analytical tool made up of two primary components: a transducer and a bioreceptor. The bioreceptor that detects the target analyte like:

(1) Biological material: enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids, and cell receptors, or

(2) Biologically derived material: aptamers and recombinant antibodies, or

(3) Biomimic: imprinted polymers and synthetic catalysts.

The transducer, which transforms biological interactions into an measurable electrical signal that can be optical, electrochemical, mass-based, thermometric, micromechanical, or magnetic (Velusamy et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2014).

Immunological-based techniques:

Antibody-antigen interactions, in which a given antibody will attach to its particular antigen, are the foundation of immunologically based approaches for the identification of foodborne pathogens.The sensitivity and specificity of immunologically based techniques depend on how well an antibody binds to its antigen. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are used in immunologically based techniques (Law, J. W. F, et al. 2015 and Zhao et al., 2014).

Table no 2:Classification of different rapid detection methods

Table no: 3:COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TEST KIT FOR DETECTION OF BACTERIA AND THEIR TOXINS:

ADVANTAGE OF RAPID DETECTION:

• Rapid detection methods are important, particularly in food industry, as they are able to detect the presence of pathogens in raw and processed foods immediately.
• Rapid methods are also sensitive enough to detect pathogens that present in low numbers in the food.
• Sensitivity is important because a single pathogen present in food has the risk to cause infection.
• Rapid methods are more time-efficient, labor-saving and able to reduce human errors (Mandal et al., 2011).

CONCLUSION:

Traditional methods for the detection of food borne pathogen are time consuming as well as laborious and low sensitivity. To overcome the drawback of conventional methods newly developed rapid detection methods are more useful. Rapid detection methods are generally more sensitive, specific, time-efficient, labour-saving, and reliable than conventional methods.Although frequently used for the identification of foodborne pathogens, nucleic acid-based techniques then the other rapid detection methods, which including PCR, mPCR, qPCR, and DNA microarray have great sensitivity and call for experienced workers and specific equipment.

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