Platform for the food and beverage industry
What do the catacombs of a soccer temple and listeria have in common? The former served as a supporting act for the latter at the past edition of Quality Days. 250 quality managers from the food industry gathered at the Ghelamco Arena in Ghent to receive interesting tips on how to minimize listeria in production. An instructive and fascinating afternoon in a setting that clearly underscored the 'team spirit' needed to work towards an efficient listeria control.
That the risk of contamination with listeria monocytogenes is currently a hot topic in the food industry was clearly demonstrated by the very roomy audience that Quality Days hosted. This event for quality managers from the food industry is based on two pillars: knowledge exchange and networking. For the first part, the organizing companies (Ago, Anticimex, Arco, Bimsoft, Boons, CID Lines, epacco, Gluecom, Gullimex, Hosa, Klaratex, Lavetan, Munters, Saleenco, Solco and VMA) had invited a number of experts to the Ghelamco Arena. A roundtable discussion prior to that event (see page 22) had already clarified the core lines of the message. This was further supplemented on the day itself with tips & tricks. We list the main lessons learned below.
During the first lecture, we learned from ir Katrijn Verbeek of Lavetan exactly what listeria is and what risks are associated with it. "Across all matrices, we note about 4 to 5% positive cases in our own lab. The EFSA shows similar figures. So there is no need to panic, but vigilance is required. Companies would do well to set up active risk management so that they can also look for the cause and deal with it quickly." The latest method for typing listeria is whole genome sequencing (WGS). Dr. Bavo Verhaegen of Scienscano explained the added value it brings: "Each strain has its own typical fingerprint. With WGS we can track them down and conduct much more targeted research. The aim is to be able to identify and eliminate persistent house strains in particular." But going to zero risk was impossible, according to the experts present. Dr. Koen De Reu: "Listeria is too present in nature for that. However, we can start to reduce the risks significantly through a structured sampling plan. This requires a large number of samples in a sufficiently high frequency in function of the risks. An area of 10 cm² will not suffice. We try to sample one m²."
The food industry is also clearly asking for more guidance in listeria control. This is also proven by the project in which ILVO is currently coaching a number of companies from high-risk sectors to come up with best practices. Based on sampling, a top ten of places where listeria monocytogenes was found most frequently and in what percent of the companies this happened. Since this is a project with a limited number of farms, these results are only indicative. But they nonetheless provide a good starting point for those who want to actively look for listeria monocytogenes in their production.
The informative part concluded with a panel discussion, in which, in addition to the speakers, Wouter Burggraaf (Burggraaf and Partners, hygiene design expert), Vera Cantaert (FAVV), Johan Hallaert (FEVIA) and Prof. Mieke Uytendaele (Ghent University) joined in. This was also full of relevant tools to work on effective listeria control. "Who seeks, who will find," opened Uytendaele. "However, we need not fear that. That should be the starting point to set up actions, get all noses in the same direction and free up the necessary money for more quality control." Every food company is in the same boat in this regard.
Hallaert: "The Belgian food landscape is one of SMEs. Food safety culture has nothing to do with scale but with the attitude of people and in that respect we do see a positive evolution. More and more work is being done on it." Important in this is having the right people on the team. Cantaert: "Make sure you have an expert in HACCP in your own ranks. There are manuals aplenty, but you need someone with the insight to translate it. Also have that person talk to both management and the people on the line. Everyone needs to get on board with this story." And now is the time to make it work. "Obviously, reducing listeria is not a job we will do one day, but you have to start doing it. Think about that even when investing in new machinery because hygienic design makes everything demonstrably cleanable," Burggraaf concluded.
With the Ghelamco Arena as a backdrop, the networking section also regained its cachet. Prior to the lectures and panel discussion, visitors could take a look into the catacombs of the Ghent soccer temple. Soak up the atmosphere on the turf or take a closer look at the home team's dressing rooms. It was all possible. Afterwards, the Ghelamco Arena also showed its most culinary side. After all, plenty of food for thought after all that knowledge exchange and what better way to process that over a nice glass of bubbly and refined appetizers. The visitors were able to meet each other and the speakers to further exchange experiences. The networking reception was followed by a sumptuous dinner and a performance by a stand-up comedian that was particularly enjoyed. On to the next edition.
