TY - JOUR
T1 - Time-temperature profiles and Listeria monocytogenes presence in refrigerators from households with vulnerable consumers
AU - Dumitrașcu, Loredana
AU - Nicolau, Anca Ioana
AU - Neagu, Corina
AU - Didier, Pierrine
AU - Maître, Isabelle
AU - Nguyen-The, Christophe
AU - Skuland, Silje Elisabeth
AU - Møretrø, Trond
AU - Langsrud, Solveig
AU - Truninger, Monica
AU - Teixeira, Paula
AU - Ferreira, Vânia
AU - Martens, Lydia
AU - Borda, Daniela
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Horizon 2020 project SafeConsume (Grant Agreement No. 727580 ). Joachim Scholderer and his team are acknowledged for designing and organizing the consumer survey.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - A transdisciplinary observational study, coupled with a web-based survey, was conducted to investigate refrigerated storage of food, in five European countries. The investigated consumer groups in this study were: young families with small children and/or pregnant women, elderly people, persons with an immunodeficient system, and young single men. The refrigerator temperature was monitored for approximately two weeks using a temperature data logger. Variables such as country, income, age of refrigerators, education, living area, refrigerator loading practices had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the overall average fridge temperature, whereas consumers' practices showed a significant influence (p < 0.05) on registered temperature values. Compared to temperatures inside the fridges belonging to young families and young single men group, the temperatures inside refrigerators belonging to elderly was in the temperature danger zone (5–63 °C). The lowest temperatures were recorded in UK consumers’ refrigerators, whereas the highest were in French households. Presence of Listeria monocytogenes was confirmed in three refrigerators out of 53 sampled (two in Romania and one in Portugal). The most vulnerable category to food safety risks is represented by elderly persons with low education, unaware of safe refrigeration practices and the actual temperature their fridges are running.
AB - A transdisciplinary observational study, coupled with a web-based survey, was conducted to investigate refrigerated storage of food, in five European countries. The investigated consumer groups in this study were: young families with small children and/or pregnant women, elderly people, persons with an immunodeficient system, and young single men. The refrigerator temperature was monitored for approximately two weeks using a temperature data logger. Variables such as country, income, age of refrigerators, education, living area, refrigerator loading practices had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the overall average fridge temperature, whereas consumers' practices showed a significant influence (p < 0.05) on registered temperature values. Compared to temperatures inside the fridges belonging to young families and young single men group, the temperatures inside refrigerators belonging to elderly was in the temperature danger zone (5–63 °C). The lowest temperatures were recorded in UK consumers’ refrigerators, whereas the highest were in French households. Presence of Listeria monocytogenes was confirmed in three refrigerators out of 53 sampled (two in Romania and one in Portugal). The most vulnerable category to food safety risks is represented by elderly persons with low education, unaware of safe refrigeration practices and the actual temperature their fridges are running.
KW - Consumer
KW - Elderly
KW - Temperature danger zone
KW - Young family
KW - Young single men
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076907222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.107078
DO - 10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.107078
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85076907222
SN - 0956-7135
VL - 111
JO - Food Control
JF - Food Control
M1 - 107078
ER -