File Download
  Links for fulltext
     (May Require Subscription)
Supplementary

Article: Insights into the Microbiological Safety of Wooden Cutting Boards Used for Meat Processing in Hong Kong’s Wet Markets: A Focus on Food-Contact Surfaces, Cross-Contamination and the Efficacy of Traditional Hygiene Practices

TitleInsights into the Microbiological Safety of Wooden Cutting Boards Used for Meat Processing in Hong Kong’s Wet Markets: A Focus on Food-Contact Surfaces, Cross-Contamination and the Efficacy of Traditional Hygiene Practices
Authors
KeywordsHong Kong’s wet markets
wooden cutting board
traditional hygiene practices
foodborne pathogens
biofilms
Issue Date2020
PublisherMDPI AG. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms
Citation
Microorganisms, 2020, v. 8 n. 4, p. article no. 579 How to Cite?
AbstractHong Kong’s wet markets play a crucial role in the country’s supply of safe, fresh meat to satisfy the dietary needs of its population. Whilst food safety regulations have been introduced over the past few years to maintain the microbial safety of foods sold from these wet markets, it remains unclear whether the hygiene maintenance that is performed on the wooden cutting boards used for meat-processing is effective. In fact, hygiene maintenance may often be overlooked, and hygiene standards may be insufficient. If so, this may lead to the spread of harmful pathogens through cross-contamination, thereby causing severe risks to public health. The aim of this study was to determine the level of microbial transfer between wooden cutting boards and swine meat of various qualities, using 16S metagenomic sequencing, strain identification and biofilm screening of isolated strains. The results established that: (a) the traditional hygiene practices used for cleaning wooden cutting boards in Hong Kong’s wet markets expose the surfaces to potentially harmful microorganisms; (b) the processing of microbially contaminated meat on cutting boards cleaned using traditional practices leads to cross-contamination; and (c) several potentially pathogenic microorganisms found on the cutting boards have good biofilm-forming abilities. These results reinforce the need to review the traditional methods used to clean wooden cutting boards after the processing of raw meat in Hong Kong’ wet markets so as to prevent cross-contamination events. The establishment of proper hygiene protocols may reduce the spread of disease-causing microorganisms (including antibiotic-resistant microorganisms) in food-processing environments.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/282250
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 4.1
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.944
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorSekoai, PT-
dc.contributor.authorFeng, S-
dc.contributor.authorZhou, W-
dc.contributor.authorNgan, WY-
dc.contributor.authorPU, Y-
dc.contributor.authorYAO, Y-
dc.contributor.authorPAN, J-
dc.contributor.authorHabimana, O-
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-05T14:32:43Z-
dc.date.available2020-05-05T14:32:43Z-
dc.date.issued2020-
dc.identifier.citationMicroorganisms, 2020, v. 8 n. 4, p. article no. 579-
dc.identifier.issn2076-2607-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/282250-
dc.description.abstractHong Kong’s wet markets play a crucial role in the country’s supply of safe, fresh meat to satisfy the dietary needs of its population. Whilst food safety regulations have been introduced over the past few years to maintain the microbial safety of foods sold from these wet markets, it remains unclear whether the hygiene maintenance that is performed on the wooden cutting boards used for meat-processing is effective. In fact, hygiene maintenance may often be overlooked, and hygiene standards may be insufficient. If so, this may lead to the spread of harmful pathogens through cross-contamination, thereby causing severe risks to public health. The aim of this study was to determine the level of microbial transfer between wooden cutting boards and swine meat of various qualities, using 16S metagenomic sequencing, strain identification and biofilm screening of isolated strains. The results established that: (a) the traditional hygiene practices used for cleaning wooden cutting boards in Hong Kong’s wet markets expose the surfaces to potentially harmful microorganisms; (b) the processing of microbially contaminated meat on cutting boards cleaned using traditional practices leads to cross-contamination; and (c) several potentially pathogenic microorganisms found on the cutting boards have good biofilm-forming abilities. These results reinforce the need to review the traditional methods used to clean wooden cutting boards after the processing of raw meat in Hong Kong’ wet markets so as to prevent cross-contamination events. The establishment of proper hygiene protocols may reduce the spread of disease-causing microorganisms (including antibiotic-resistant microorganisms) in food-processing environments.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherMDPI AG. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms-
dc.relation.ispartofMicroorganisms-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectHong Kong’s wet markets-
dc.subjectwooden cutting board-
dc.subjecttraditional hygiene practices-
dc.subjectfoodborne pathogens-
dc.subjectbiofilms-
dc.titleInsights into the Microbiological Safety of Wooden Cutting Boards Used for Meat Processing in Hong Kong’s Wet Markets: A Focus on Food-Contact Surfaces, Cross-Contamination and the Efficacy of Traditional Hygiene Practices-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.identifier.emailSekoai, PT: ptsekoai@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailNgan, WY: superguy@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailHabimana, O: ohabim@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityHabimana, O=rp02169-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/microorganisms8040579-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85083745213-
dc.identifier.hkuros309802-
dc.identifier.volume8-
dc.identifier.issue4-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. 579-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. 579-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000533510400011-
dc.publisher.placeSwitzerland-
dc.identifier.issnl2076-2607-

Export via OAI-PMH Interface in XML Formats


OR


Export to Other Non-XML Formats