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A. DEPAOLA, JR., Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Office of Seafood, PO Box 158, Dauphin Island, AL 36528-0158 Vibrio spp. often occur naturally in a variety of seafood products and can cause gastroenteritis and primary septicemia. In the U.S., a zero tolerance (<1cfu/25 g) has been established by FDA for toxigenic V. cholerae, an organism that is generally transmitted via the fecal oral route and the cause of epidemic cholerae. Toxigenic V. cholerae is rarely detected in either imported or domestically produced seafood products. Nontoxigenic strains of V. cholerae are found routinely in raw molluscan shellfish but no tolerances have been established for their presence. V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus are abundant in oysters harvested from the U.S. Gulf Coast, especially during warmer months and reported illnesses have a similar seasonal trend. Various post harvest treatments (PHT) such as mild heat, high pressure, and freezing have been developed by the oyster industry to reduce illness rates. Companies that have validated procedures to reduce vibrio levels to <3 MPN/g and a HACCP plan can label their product, “processed to reduce V. vulnificus and/or V. parahaemolyticus to nondetectable level”. On the basis of recent risk assessments, the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference has recommended that the levels for labeling be relaxed to <30 MPN/g. The risk assessments indicated negligible increase in predicted illnesses with an increase from 3 to 30 MPN/g, while risk managers and industry anticipate that this change should expand the use of PHT and result in significant illness reduction.
Session 92, Zero tolerance and control of seafood safety
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