An Integrative Methods Investigation of Microbial Food Safety and Risk Management in the Maryland Direct-Market Poultry Supply Chain

Food Safety;Antimicrobial Resistance;Environmental Engineering

Baron, Patrick AnthonyDiener-West, Marie ;

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: Food Safety;    Antimicrobial Resistance;    Environmental Engineering;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/39548/BARON-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

Abstract: The goal of my dissertation was to explore the Maryland direct-market poultry supply chain in order to describe and characterize factors of this system that are potentially related to microbial food safety of poultry meat products, focusing particularly on the issue of consumer exposure to multidrug resistant (MDR) foodborne pathogens through this supply chain. Rates of foodborne infections and illness resulting from human exposure to MDR livestock-origin bacterial pathogens are increasing in the US; characterizing the epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistance in the microbiome of livestock-associated pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria in the US food supply chain is a critical issue for public health. The conventional model for industrial-scale broiler poultry production has been demonstrated to facilitate selective pressure for antimicrobial resistance among foodborne pathogens in high-density livestock production environments. Existing alternatives to conventional, industrial-scale model for poultry production have not been evaluated in the same context. Prevalence and epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant foodborne pathogens, along with more generic microbial food safety risk issues in small-scale commercial poultry production have not been adequately explored in scientific research. Moreover, the factors that differentiate industrial-scale and small-scale poultry production that may also be related to consumer food safety risks have not been described; the relevant context for developing informed research questions for the purpose of exploring microbial food safety issues in small-scale commercial poultry agriculture is unclear.I used an integrative, mixed-methods research strategy to better understand food safety risks at the retail level of the Maryland direct-market poultry supply chain. I planned this research in three stages; each stage employed a different method for collection and analysis of a unique data source, all taken within a single study population. In the first research stage, Iiiiconducted in-depth, open-ended interviews with small-scale commercial broiler poultry farmers who retail their products in the Maryland direct-to-consumer supply chain to gather qualitative data on topics related to microbial food safety. In the second stage, I used qualitative data from these interviews to develop a survey questionnaire tool to gather information on the methods and models of poultry production in use in Maryland, focusing on characteristics identified during the first stage of key informant interviews as relevant to microbial food safety. In the third stage, I purchased samples of retail meat in a market-basket analysis from a representative proportion of the statewide population of direct-market poultry retailers and analyzed for prevalence and antimicrobial-susceptibility patterns of common poultry-associated foodborne pathogens. Throughout this process, I addressed the policy relevance as well as the public health significance of all food safety-related findings.This dissertation work is the product of an integrative methods research strategy to describe and contextualize the complex phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance among foodborne pathogens in the novel environment of a statewide direct-market commercial poultry supply chain. This dissertation represents, to the best of my knowledge, the first in-depth evaluation of these food safety issues in any direct-market commercial supply chain for these consumer products.