Investigation on food-borne pathogens of 862 student meal samples in Henan Province

Objective To investigate the food safety status of student meals,and to provide theoretical basis for the planning of national food safety risk monitor.Methods A total of 862 food samples were collected and detected based on Food Safety Risk Monitoring Plan in Henan in 2014.The test items conclude Bacillus cereus,Staphylococcus aureus,Listeria monocytogenes,Escherichia coli and Salmonella.Results Among the 862 samples of student meals,the overall detection rate of main pathogenic bacteria was 8.58%.The detection rate of Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus were 3.13% and 4.40%,and lower detection rate was 0.70%,0.23% and 0.12% in Escherichia coli,Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella.The detection rate of milk and dairy products,bean products,rice food and box lunches was 17.86%,12.50%,9.79% and 8.79% respectively.There were significant differences of food-borne pathogenic bacteria detection between students in city(14.29 %) and those in countryside(7.48 %) (x2 =6.920,P =0.009).Conclusion There are hidden dangers of foodborne pathogenic bacteria contamination in student meals provided by school in Henan Province.In order to avoid the break of food poisoning in school,food safety monitoring and supervision should be strengthened on high contamination rate of student meals.