Hygiene status of food contact surfaces in public school canteens in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia

Abstract

Background/Aim. Establishing a food safety control sys-tem is extremely important in preventing diseases associated with foodborne pathogens. The aim of this study was to ex-amine the hygiene status of food contact surfaces and the ap-plication of good hygiene practices by food handlers in school canteens. Methods. A total of 10,366 swabs were tak-en from food contact surfaces, including food handler's hands from public school canteens in Novi Sad, Serbia, over ten years (2008-2017), covering voluntary good hygiene prac-tices and obligatory Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) implementation periods. Results. Statistically sig-nificant differences (p < 0.05) in aerobic colony counts (ACCs) on surfaces between two examined periods were found. A general positive trend regarding the reduction of microbial contamination of food contact surfaces was ob-served. The percentage of surfaces swabs with ACCs above 2.48 log CFU/cm2 significantly decreased (R2 = 0.453) during the study period, and the percentage of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus in the swabs also decreased, but not significantly (R2 = 0.264), and average annual Enterobacteriaceae counts above the established limit values on surfaces significantly de-creased (R2 = 0.442) over the years. A significantly higher (p < 0.05) percentage of workers' hands harbored ACCs, coagu-lase-positive Staphylococcus, and Enterobacteriaceae above the es-tablished limits than the equipment or work surfaces. Con-clusion. The results obtained showed the proper implemen-tation of good hygiene practices concerning food contact sur-faces, but the implementation of good personal hygiene prac-tices needs enhanced supervision.