Estudio microbiológico de las comidas servidas en los comedores escolares de la isla de Tenerife

Microbiological Study of the Meal s Served in School Lunchrooms on th e Island of Tenerife, Spain Background :School lunchrooms and catered meals are o f major importance from the Public Health standpoint. This study i s aimed at evaluating the microbiological quality of the meals serve d in school lunchrooms for the purpose of ascertaining whether it i s suitable or, to the contrary, the intake thereof may involve a seriou s health problem for this high-risk group . Methods: A transversal descriptive epidemiological study. A n analysis was conducted of a total of 898 food samples collected from the lunchrooms at 101 schools in Tenerife, selected by a stratifie d random probabilistic sampling procedure, fifty-eight of which wer e prepared at the school proper (direct management) and 43 involvin g meals served by a catering firm (prepared under contract) . Results: No disease-causi ng Salmonella spp. or Listeri a monocytogenes bacteria were isolated from any of the samples. A total 79% of the foods studies showed counts for this parameter , (91%) in salads and (85%) in main courses. A total 15% of the sam ples analyzed tested positive for total Enterobacteriaceae. Escher i chia coli was isolated in 24% of the salads, in 4% of the side dishe s and in 1% of the main dishes, Staphylococcus aureus having in is o lated in three foods. The highest counts were found for the total aer o bic mesophyllic microorganisms. A total 8.24% of the sample s analyzed exceeded one or more of the limits stipulated for the param eters studies . Conclusions: The microbiological quality of the meals served i n these school lunchrooms is acceptable, although due to a certain pe r centage of the foods having exceeded the stipulated limits for micr o organisms indicative of and revealing a lack of hygiene, and schoo l children being a high-risk group, a revision of the surveillance rel a ted to critical checkpoints will be necessary .