La importància de les anàlisis i la interpretació dels resultats en el control dels microorganismes patògens en els aliments. El cas de Listeria monocytogenes

This paper focuses on the frequent problem of analysis and interpretation of results in the detection of pathogens in the food industries, using the case
of Listeria monocytogenes as a model that can be extrapolated to other microorganisms. To this end, we deal with the current situation of food safety, discussing surface contamination, which represents a first-rate problem in the food industry. Specifically, the outbreak of infection in Seville in the summer of 2019, caused by L. monocytogenes contamination, may be taken as an
example of similar situations that may be happening in our country today. Sampling is considered the basis of interpretation, differentiating between quantitative and qualitative measures. At all times it is sought to establish a simple statistical approach, providing examples that may contribute to the understanding of the situation. This is of help in the decision-making process of
any food-processing company which is concerned about the safety of its products, and which seeks to obtain a good yield from its analytical costs. We cover concepts such as sampling, descriptive statistics, the difference in concept between isolated and repeated measures, as well as the importance of the food safety objective (FSO) and the interpretation of the frequency of occurrence of a pathogen, depending on the sample size and the record of results. With this information, it is hoped that industry may be assisted and that the decisionmaking process may be facilitated.