Microbiological Assessment of Home-Delivered Meals for Children from Low-income Families during Production and Delivery

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the microbiological quality of home-delivered meals during pro- duction and delivery for children from low-income families. Production flows from a facility in Seoul that provides home-delivered meals were analyzed and the time-temperature of the food was measured. Microbio- logical assessment was performed for the production environment, personal hygiene, and food samples at each production and delivery step based on the process approach. It took 2 hours or longer from completion of production to meal delivery. An aerobic colony count (ACC) and coliform were not detected at knives, cut- ting boards, and dish towels. However, ACC (at pre-preparation, preparation, and packing areas) and coliform (at the preparation area) were detected on the hands and gloves of employees. Air-borne bacterial counts var- ied according to day and preparation area (ND∼6 CFU/plate/15 min). Food temperatures, on the completion of production and meal delivery, fell into temperature danger zones. ACC and coliform counts of raw in- gredients did not decrease after pre-preparation (washing and sanitizing) for menus involving food preparation with no cook step. ACC decreased after cooking step for menus of food preparation with cook step, but the ACC of the stir-fried and seasoned dried filefish fillet on the completion of cooking was too numerous to count due to improper heating. The ACC of seasoned young Chinese cabbages (a menu with complex food preparation) increased during delivery (from 2.5 log CFU/ml to 5.0 log CFU/ml). This qualitative assessment of foodborne pathogens revealed that B. cereus was detected in vegetable and meat product menus. These re- sults suggest time-temperature control is necessary during production and delivery and management guidelines during production of home-delivered meals are provided for safe production.