Ngan Wing Yui, Rao Subramanya, Chan Long Chung, Sekoai Patrick T, Pu Yang, Yao Yuan, Fung Aster Hei Yiu, Habimana Olivier
The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
Microorganisms. 2020 Dec 7;8(12):1941. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8121941.
Accessing food through wet markets is a common global daily occurrence, where fresh meat can be purchased to support an urbanizing world population. Similar to the wet markets in many other metropolitan cities in Asia, Hong Kong wet markets vary and are characterized by differing hygiene routines and access to essential modern technologies. The lack of risk assessments of food contact surfaces in these markets has led to substantial gaps in food safety knowledge and information that could help improve and maintain public health. Microbial profiling analyses were conducted on cutting boards that had been used to process pork, poultry, and seafood at 11 different wet markets. The markets differed in hygiene protocols and access to modern facilities. Irrespective of whether wet markets have access of modern infrastructure, the hygiene practices were largely found to be inefficient based on the prevalence of bacterial species typically associated with foodborne pathogens such as , , , and ; indicator organisms such as ; as well as nonfoodborne pathogenic bacterial species potentially associated with nosocomial infections, such as and . Other Vibrio species, and , typically associated with contaminated raw or undercooked seafood with the potential to cause illness in humans, were also found on wooden cutting boards. This study indicated that the hygienic practices used in Hong Kong wet markets are not sufficient for preventing the establishment of spoilage or pathogenic organisms. This study serves as a basis to review current hygiene practices in wet markets and provides a framework to reassess existing safety protocols.
通过湿货市场获取食物是全球常见的日常现象，在那里可以买到新鲜肉类以满足不断城市化的世界人口的需求。与亚洲许多其他大城市的湿货市场类似，香港的湿货市场各不相同，其特点是卫生习惯和获取关键现代技术的情况各异。这些市场缺乏对食品接触表面的风险评估，导致在有助于改善和维护公众健康的食品安全知识和信息方面存在巨大差距。对在11个不同湿货市场用于处理猪肉、家禽和海鲜的砧板进行了微生物谱分析。这些市场在卫生规程和现代设施的配备方面存在差异。无论湿货市场是否具备现代基础设施，基于通常与食源性病原体相关的细菌种类（如 、 、 、 ）、指示生物（如 ）以及可能与医院感染相关的非食源性病原体细菌种类（如 和 ）的流行情况，发现卫生习惯在很大程度上是低效的。在木砧板上还发现了其他通常与受污染的生海鲜或未煮熟海鲜相关、有可能导致人类患病的弧菌种类，如 和 。这项研究表明，香港湿货市场采用的卫生习惯不足以防止腐败或致病生物的滋生。本研究为审查湿货市场当前的卫生习惯提供了依据，并为重新评估现有安全规程提供了框架。
