Patógenos asociados a enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos en restaurantes escolares de Colombia

Abstract

The overall objective of the present study was to determine the presence of Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes in prepared ready-to-eat foods such as chicken, rice and salads in school restaurants in 7 departments of Colombia. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. Surveys included questions related to hygienic-sanitary conditions and checklists that evaluated infrastructure issues and the use of personal protection elements during food handling. The selection of the sample was carried out using a two-stage probabilistic design with a 95% confidence level. The CSPro capture program was used for information collection and Stata 12 statistical package was used to estimate associations. Results: Seven departments, 72 municipalities, and 332 restaurants were visited and 497 samples were collected. Sixty-one percent of the samples corresponded to rice, 23% salad and 16% chicken. The most frequently found microorganism was Listeria monocytogenes 1.6%, Salmonella spp 0.6% and Staphylococcus aureus 0.4%. There was no presence of E. coli O157H7. Conclusions: The presence of pathogenic microorganisms was detected in school restaurants.