Does imported food pose an increased microbiological risk to consumer health?

Global food trade has revolutionized consumer access to a wide array of food products from around the world. However, the complexity of the globalized supply chains increases the risk of microbial food contamination, posing potential threats to consumer health.

Since 2009, Germany has conducted the Zoonoses Monitoring under Directive 2003/99/EC to track trends and sources of zoonotic agents. Over the years, several monitoring programs have included imported products, revealing concerning findings, such as the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in about 30 % of imported fish samples. In 2021, according to Commission Implementing Decision (CID) 2020/1729/EU, the requirement to analyse poultry, pig and bovine meat at border control posts became mandatory. For chicken meat, although there were no significant differences in prevalence for most of the analysed microorganisms, all isolates obtained at border control posts showed higher resistance rates than isolates obtained at retail. Particularly alarming was the prevalence of ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli in imported chicken meat, with 91.8 % of samples testing positive compared to 33 % in retail samples. Genetic characterisation of these ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli isolates also showed high diversity in the genes found not only between the two sources but also within them. Very few batches of turkey and pork meat were imported into Germany. No significant differences were found between bovine meat obtained at border control posts and at retail. These findings underscore the critical need for further investigation of imported food, as it may pose an increased risk to consumer health.

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