Larsen, M.M., Jakobsen, H.H., Göke, C., Hendriksen, N.B., Rømer, J.K., Mohn, C. & Schultz, A.C. 2018. Sanitary survey rapport 5: Jyllands østkyst (sydlig del). Aarhus Universitet, DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi, 144 s. - Teknisk rapport fra DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi nr. 111. http://dce2.au.dk/pub/TR111.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 P64, P65, P66, P67, P68, P69, P70, P71, P72 and P73 situated at the east coast of Jutland (southern part). The covered production areas within east coast of Jutland (southern part) 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 Jutland (southern part), 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 Jutland (southern part) identified an area that in general, with few exceptions, is a microbial homogeneous and relatively clean area with only rare occurrences of critical microbial contamination.
The data set represents the 10-year period 2007-2016 and identifies that 97 % of in total 621 samples contains E. coli within the A-level (<230 E. coli/100 g) and 0,4 % (one sample) of total 224 samples tested positive for Salmonella. However, the data covers only eight of the 10 mentioned production areas, whereas the last two only had very few data.
Based on an assessment of sources and transport routes for microbiological contamination (sanitary survey) verified against historical microbiological data in Jutland (southern part), a microbiological monitoring programme is recommended for each of the production areas in Jutland (southern part).
In each of the recommended monitoring programmes, 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 P66, P68, P69 and P71 are suitable for permanent classification with a future sampling frequency of at least 8 samples per year over a three-year period. In contrast, P64, P65, P67, P70 and P72-P73 do not reach the status of permanent classification, mainly because of insufficient number of data collected over the past three years, but also 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 three 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 own-check 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.
