The objective of this paper is to determine the cause in a case of bacterial contamination of ESL (extended shelf life)-pasteurized milk produced by way of a Comprehensive Sanitation Management and Production Process and to identify issues of sanitation management by HACCP. There were multiple incidences of complaints such as that “a gelation was found upon opening the package” of ESL-pasteurized milk manufactured in a facility obtained approval of Comprehensive Sanitation Management and Production Process within our jurisdiction which became a case involving the voluntary recall of 24,340 retail packages. Pseudomonas fluorescens was detected from all products that have been removed from manufacturer, including the unopened same lot product kept by refrigeration, the opened same lot product kept at room temperature, and the recalled product from consumers. Furthermore, as a result of determining the reproducibility of milk gelation by inoculated pack studies, the pathogen was considered to be Pseudomonas fluorescens. It was presumed that bacterial contamination had occurred due to an incidence of external air intake through the part where the stirring shaft penetrates the semi-aseptic surge tank positioned immediately preceding the filling process because of the condition that the pressure inside the tank had become negative. Whereas the detailed records accompanying the introduction of the HACCP system were useful in clarifying the route of contamination, it was also found that, although sanitation management by the HACCP system is quite effective for hazards within the scope of its projections, it is unable to handle hazards which are unexpected or hazards for which methods of management are not stipulated. The matter of obtaining approval as a Comprehensive Sanitation Management and Production Process and the matter of operating this system are two different matters, and it is necessary to continuously improve the operation by auditing and reviewing risk evaluations and control measure.

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Our surveillance indicated the food-borne disease associated with Kudoa septempunctata has occurred on summer season. To elucidate the reasons of that, we investigated the temperature effect of food-borne disease associated with K. septempunctata. We continually purchased olive flounders in the same lot from the fish farm that was infected with K. septempunctata partly and determined the number of spores in olive flounder muscle. Both the positive ratio of K. septempunctata in olive flounder and the number of spores did not show the seasonal change from January to August. We discovered that the temperature of seawater in summer season was over 20℃. However, the positive ratio of K. septempunctata, the number of spores and the toxicity of K. septempunctata were not affected by high temperature of seawater. These results demonstrated that the temperature rise of sea water was not a reason why the frequency of the food-borne disease increases in summer season.

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We compared the combination of “Campylo-Preston/225” and “Cica-Immunotest Campylobacter II” with the combination of the method of conventional enrichment methods and “Cica-Immunotest Campylobacter II” for the detection of Campylobacter jejuni/coli. We determined the presence of the pathogens in 52 samples consisting of chicken meat, beef liver and horse meat. With the combination of “Campylo-Preston/225” and “Cica-Immunotest Campylobacter II,” 26 of the 52 samples (50.0%) tested positive for C. jejuni/coli. On the other hand, the combination of the method of conventional enrichment methods and “Cica-Immunotest Campylobacter II” resulted in 18 (34.6%) of the samples testing positive for the bacteria. The results obtained with both combinations of methods were significantly different (p<0.01). For both methodologies, preculture for 48 hr was more effective than preculture for 24 hr. The combination of “Campylo-Preston/225” and “Cica-Immunotest Campylobacter II” showed time-saving potential for the detection of Campylobacter jejuni/coli.

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