2.2. Microbial safety of REPFEDs on the market
To gain insight into the current status of the microbial safety of
REPFEDs, historical results of microbiological analyses of REPFED
end products for B. cereus, L. monocytogenes and sulfite reducing
Clostridia (SRC) were collected from five REFPED-producing
companies. The companies took the samples in 2009 in the
framework of their respective food safety management system.
Various accredited laboratories analyzed the samples and results
were reported back to the companies, which in turn allowed us to
use these data. These results were compared to the microbial
guidelines established by the Laboratory of Food Microbiology and
Food Preservation (LFMFP), for products on the day off production
(T0) and at the end of shelf life (TEoS) (Table 1) (Uyttendaele,
Jacxsens, De Loy-Hendrickx, Deviieghere, & Debevere, 2010).