Food Safety Magazine - June/July 2013

MICROBIAL TESTING
By Tom Weschler
Comparison of Microbiology
Testing Practices
Food Micro, Eighth Edition: Microbiology
Testing in the Global Food Industry is
drawn from primary research interviews
with QA/QC managers in more than
450 food plants in 19 countries, including
China and India.
A look at food plants in North
America, Europe and Asia
Microbiology testing practices at food
plants around the world vary extensively.
As a result, food safety officers need to
understand those variations and establish
expectations and practices with their suppliers
to mitigate variations and ensure safe and wholesome
products that meet label claims.
Microbiology testing in food plants around the world
varies by organism, food segment (protein, dairy, fruit/
vegetable, processed food) and geographic region. This
article will examine variations in global testing practices
in more detail, including a review of where samples are
collected and the test methods used for analysis. It will
not cover variations such as where and how food samples
are analyzed (i.e., type of lab, procedures and staff)
and differences in testing based on plant size and ownership
(i.e.,
single-plant
vs. part of a
1,000
global food
800
organization).
138.1
The data
600
109.8
and charts in
96.5
58.0 83.3
this article
400
come from
418.2 461.6 517.1 600.2
200
the new market
report
365.7
0
from Strategic
Consulting
Routine Pathogen
Inc. (SCI). 1
Figure 1.
(000,000)
Food Micro Tests – Worldwide
Worldwide Food Microbiology
Testing
In general, global test volumes are increasing
and are up 128 percent over the
past 15 years. Pathogen testing is growing
at an even faster rate and represents
an increasing percentage of total food
microbiological testing. Fifteen years
ago, pathogen testing represented 13.7
percent of total micro tests. In 2013, it
represents 23.2 percent of all tests
(Figure 1).
The world’s food chain is increasingly
complex, with food shipments
across borders growing very rapidly. In
the U.S., for example, imported food
now represents 15–20 percent of all
food consumed. According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, total imports
have increased 7 percent per year
since 1999. In the past 10 years, imports
of animal-based foods have increased by
5 percent and plant-based foods have
grown more than 8 percent.
On the surface, these two trends
seem to be in concert—the global food
chain is becoming more important
and food micro testing is increasing. A
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Where Pathogen Samples Are Collected
12 70.0%
F o o d S a f e t y M a g a z i n e
60.0%
58.6%
47.8%
47.5% 49.9%
224.3
742.2