Larsen, M.M., Jakobsen, H.H., Göke, C., Hendriksen, N.B., Rømer, J.K., Mohn, C. & Schultz, A.C. 2017. Sanitary survey rapport 4: Lillebælt og det Sydfynske Øhav. Aarhus Universitet, DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi, 152 s. - Teknisk rapport fra DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi nr. 107.
http://dce2.au.dk/pub/TR107.pdf
According to regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption. Classification of production areas for live bivalve mollusks, etc.[1]and the associated sampling plan are required to be based on so-called ‘sanitary surveys’. A sanitary survey is an assessment of the interactions between potential sources of microbial pollution, climate conditions and oceanography in the area. The EU Commission guidance for making a sanitary survey formed the basis for this report. However, in certain cases, the Danish practice for microbiological sampling frequency and classification made previously on the basis of this, as described in ‘muslingebekendtgørelsen’, is summarized in Appendix 13.
The report covers production areas P74-80 and P84-87 within Lillebælt (The Little Belt) and the Sydfynske Øhav (The South Funen Archipelago). For editorial reasons, the production areas are regarded under one term as ‘Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav’, acknowledging that the 11 production areas only include a proportion of Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav. The covered production areas within Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav are marked as ‘Rapportområde’ on the maps in this report.
The report recommends a microbiological sampling plan consisting of several designated sampling points and sampling frequencies for individual production areas. It is further discussed whether merging of production areas into fewer production areas could be considered in the future. This merge would then reduce the number of sampling points, without compromising food safety.
The report is supported by public available data from monitoring of microbiological contamination in Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav, where the concentrations of E. coli and Salmonella are determined in samples of mussels, etc. taken at different sampling points within each area. The report points to the most precautionary fixed sampling points for future monitoring.
In summary, the sanitary survey of Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav identifies an area that in general with few exceptions is a microbial homogeneous and relatively clean area, with only rare occurrence of critical microbial contamination which can vary between the production areas.
The data set represents the 10-year period 2007-2016 and identifies that 95 % of 610 samples contained E. coli within the A-level (<230 E. coli/100 g) and 0 % of 172 samples were tested positive for Salmonella. However, the data cover only nine of the 11 production areas mentioned, whereof three of these only had very few data. No samples were taken in the last two productions areas during the time frame in question.
Based on an assessment of sources and transport routes for microbiological contamination (sanitary survey) verified against historical microbiological data in Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav, a microbiological monitoring programme is recommended for each of the production areas in Lillebælt and the Sydfynske Øhav.
In each of the recommended monitoring programmes (Figure 1.1a-c), proposals for a sampling location, classification status (preliminary or permanent) and a sampling plan are outlined.
Based on the results from the sanitary survey of the producing areas, supported by the historical data set of the number, frequency and E. coli concentration in samples, the production areas P77 and P80 are suitable for permanent classification with a future sampling frequency of at least eight samples per year over a three-year period. P76 is recommended classified as preliminary permanent with a future sampling frequency of minimum 12 samples per year over a continued three-year period. In contrast, P74-75, P78-79 and P84-87 do not reach the status of permanent classification, because of insufficient number of data collected over the past three years, and due to general lack of data from the year 2016. For these areas, it will be necessary to collect 12 samples over six months or 24 samples over 3 years in order to go through a status of preliminary to permanent classification.
The report is divided into main chapters, which provide a summary of identified microbiological contaminants. The main chapters take the starting point in appendix 2-10. Appendix 11 is a detailed review of all historical microbiological data from mussel monitoring consisting of the fishery’s self-control and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration’s[2] verification projects of the industry’s microbial monitoring. It is decided that a so-called ‘shoreline survey’ is unnecessary because all possible sources of sanitary contamination are described in the sewage plans for the cities in the area, the beach water quality monitoring and in the analyses of the Ministry of Environment and Food under the auspices of the Water Framework Directive.
