RE: Vibrio spp in scallops

From: Clare Winkel (straddiegal@optusnet.com.au)
Date: Fri Dec 07 2007 - 17:34:51 PST

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    Hi Richard,

     

    At the recent World Seafood Congress in Dublin the winner of the poster
    competition was a lady from the UK with a paper about the 'home grown'
    vibrio cases from seafood in the UK in the last 5 years. Probably not what
    you wanted to hear but I will see if I can get you a copy of the paper. The
    poster competition was organised by Grimsby.

     

    Thanks

     

    Clare Winkel

     

      _____

    From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf
    Of Richard Chivers
    Sent: 06 December 2007 19:42
    To: seafood
    Subject: Vibrio spp in scallops

     

    I am seeking information on Vibrio for risk assessment purposes. My clients
    recently had Vibrio spp identified in an export consignment of chilled
    scallops (Pecten maximus) going from the UK to Italy. We can not get
    information about the cfu's and the Italian vets will not identify the
    species.

     

    Our HACCP identifies Vibrio as being a low level risk as the product is to
    be cooked before eating, large numbers are needed for infection, the
    organisms themselves are not common in UK waters (normally needs 15C). I
    have references from FAO and other sources.

     

    What I would like to hear of are the experiences of others with this
    organism in a low risk food. Our problem is that the Italians, naturally,
    want confidence that Vibrio is not a significant hazard whilst my clients
    cannot test very batch prior to export.

     

    Vibrio has not previously been considered a significant risk in UK raw fish.
    Furthermore EU Reg 2073/2005 has no limits for Vibrio, but comments that:

     

    'Currently available scientific data do not support setting specific
    criteria for pathogenic V. vulnificus and parahaemolyticus in seafood'

    and recommend that:

    'There is a need for development of reliable methods for other microbial
    hazards too, e.g. Vibrio parahaemolyticus.'

    Are there any other standards that are applied to Vibrio in other parts of
    the world?

    Many thanks

     

    Richard Chivers



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