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This study aims to present and discuss the different COVID-19 policies and recommendations for food service reopening. We aimed to understand each plan's profile, showing the most prominent concerns and summarizing the strategies. This study was carried out using an integrative review strategy of documents written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and German. We found 17 guides, 15 from the countries' health departments and institutions. The findings suggested four main categories reflecting the main concerns about safety regarding the resumption of food services during the pandemic: 1. Physical distancing; 2. evironmental aspects and safety; 3. personal hygiene and occupational health; and 4. educational and legal measures. Because COVID-19 is a new disease, the measures were designed and adapted to a scenario full of uncertainties and improved information for each discovery. All the categories are grounded on recent or late biomedical literature. Some minor recommendations are based on the precautionary principle. The practical and policy implications are discussed. Health agencies in countries that do not yet have their regulations or guidelines for operating food services can use the categories described here as a basis for suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, and the growth boundaries of two strains of L. monocytogenes isolated from RTE foods and one ATCC7644 strain under different temperature (4, 20, and 37°C), salt (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4% w/v), and nisin (0, 50, 100, 200, and 400 µg/mL) levels with different inoculum sizes (3, 4, 5, and 6 log10 CFU/mL). One hundred thirty-three retail RTE foods were examined and a total of 39 isolates were identified. The positive Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes samples were 29.3% and 12.8%, respectively. Dairy and fruit-based RTE foods were L. monocytogenes negative whereas seafood-based (26.7%), meat-based (19.4%), poultry-based (16%), and vegetable-based (10%) RTE foods contained L. monocytogenes. It was shown that nisin was more effective than NaCl to avoid growth. Moreover, protective effect of NaCl on nisin activity was observed. As inoculum size increased probability of growth also increased. Suppressing the growth by using temperature, NaCl and nisin was more difficult in RTE-isolates strains (strains 120 and 137) than that of ATCC7644 strain. A mathematical model based on logistic regression could be used to determine growth limits of L. monocytogenes strains with a concordance of > 91%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hygiene is essential in foodservices to prevent food safety and public health issues. Implementation of food safety legislation represents a sine qua non obligation of the foodservice business. In this study, we aimed to monitor the foodservice business risks associated with poor hygiene quality in the catering establishments for consumer protection. To do this, a total of 504 samples (144 from food handlers' hands, 144 from tools and surfaces, 144 from prepared foods, and 72 from the water) was collected. Contamination frequencies between the sampling groups were statistically analyzed (p <.01). Microbiological results showed that 62.5% in food handlers' hands, 44% in tools and surfaces, 27% in foods, and 7% in the water were contaminated with mesophilic aerobic bacteria (64.6%), coliforms (47.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (34.7%), Escherichia coli (25.7%), Citrobacter freundii (1.4%), and Listeria monocytogenes (0.7%), whereas no Salmonella was detected. All the test prior powers among the sampling groups were strong (=1.000), the differences and effects' sizes were large enough, and statistically significant (p <.01). Overall, awareness about hygiene in the food services needs to be improved, and the uncertainties linked to poor hygiene quality should be identified for competitiveness and efficiency of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]