Purpose

In 2020, an outbreak of Salmonella Stanley linked to imported dried wood ear mushrooms affected 55 individuals in the United States of America. These mushrooms, commonly used in Asian cuisine, require processing, like rehydration and cutting, before serving. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advise food preparers to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. Little is known about how food handlers prepare this ethnic ingredient and which handling procedures could enable Salmonella proliferation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used content analysis to investigate handling practices for dried wood ear mushrooms as demonstrated in YouTube recipe videos and to identify food safety implications during handling of the product. A total of 125 Chinese- and English-language YouTube videos were analysed.

Findings

Major steps in handling procedures were identified, including rehydration, cutting/tearing and blanching. Around 62% of the videos failed to specify the water temperature for rehydration. Only three videos specified a water temperature of 100 °C for rehydrating the mushrooms, and 36% of the videos did not specify the soaking duration. Only one video showed handwashing, cleaning and sanitising of surfaces when handling the dried wood ear mushrooms.

Practical implications

This study found that most YouTube videos provided vague and inconsistent descriptions of the rehydration procedure, including water temperature and soaking duration. Food preparers were advised to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. However, boiling water alone is insufficient to inactivate all bacterial spores. Extended periods of soaking and storage could be of concern for spore germination and bacterial growth. More validation studies need to be conducted to provide guidance on how to safely handle the mushrooms.

Originality/value

This study will make a distinctive contribution to the field of food safety by being the first to investigate the handling procedure of a unique ethnic food ingredient, dried wood ear mushrooms, which has been linked to a previous outbreak and multiple recalls in the United States of America. The valuable data collected from this study can help target food handling education as well as influence future microbial validation study design and risk assessment.

中文翻译：

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探索展示干木耳蘑菇制备过程的 YouTube 视频如何造成食品安全风险：案例研究

目的

2020 年，美国爆发了与进口干木耳有关的斯坦利沙门氏菌疫情，影响了 55 人。这些蘑菇常用于亚洲美食，在食用前需要进行加工，例如补水和切割。美国疾病控制和预防中心建议食品加工者使用沸水进行补液，以灭活细菌性病原体。人们对食品处理人员如何准备这种民族成分以及哪些处理程序可能导致沙门氏菌扩散知之甚少。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究使用内容分析来调查 YouTube 食谱视频中演示的干木耳蘑菇的处理方法，并确定产品处理过程中的食品安全影响。总共分析了 125 个中文和英文 YouTube 视频。

发现

确定了处理程序的主要步骤，包括补水、切割/撕裂和热烫。大约 62% 的视频未能指定补液的水温。只有 3 个视频指定了蘑菇补水的水温为 100°C，36% 的视频没有指定浸泡时间。只有一段视频显示了处理干木耳时要洗手、清洁和消毒表面。

实际影响

这项研究发现，大多数 YouTube 视频对补水过程的描述模糊且不一致，包括水温和浸泡时间。建议食品加工人员使用沸水进行补水，以灭活植物性细菌病原体。然而，仅用沸水不足以灭活所有细菌孢子。长时间浸泡和储存可能会影响孢子萌发和细菌生长。需要进行更多的验证研究，为如何安全处理蘑菇提供指导。

原创性/价值

这项研究首次调查了一种独特的民族食品成分干木耳的处理程序，该研究将为食品安全领域做出独特的贡献，该成分与美国之前的一次爆发和多次召回有关。美国。从这项研究中收集的有价值的数据可以帮助确定食品处理教育的目标，并影响未来的微生物验证研究设计和风险评估。