Wednesday, 25 July 2018
Investigation into the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) cakes, pastries and desserts.
This survey investigated the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) cakes, pastries and desserts with high-risk fillings. 997 Samples were collected from April to June 2014 and were tested for four microbiological parameters. The overall microbiological quality of the samples tested was satisfactory.
The cakes, pastries and desserts identified with high levels of microbial contamination contained fresh dairy cream, custard or soft cheese. No issues were identified with samples containing raw or lightly cooked egg. The storage/display temperature for three unsatisfactory and two unacceptable/potentially hazardous samples were observed to be >5 °C, indicating the likely importance of temperature control in these types of foods to limit the growth of bacteria and thereby reduce the risk of gastrointestinal illness.
