Original Articles
Vol. 14 No. 4 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2025.14011
Doctors in the kitchen: standardization of a home cooking method for Chamelea gallina and Mytilus galloprovincialis to eliminate microbiological risk
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Received: 19 May 2025
Accepted: 30 June 2025
Published: 4 August 2025
Accepted: 30 June 2025
Published: 4 August 2025
566
Views
286
Downloads
18
HTML
It is known that the consumption of edible lamellibranch mollusks (ELMs), undercooked or raw, is a vehicle for the oral transmission of viral and bacterial pathogens. The ELMs most frequently fished/cultivated and consumed in Italy are Mytilus galloprovincialis and Chamelea gallina. The aim of this project was to standardize the cooking conditions of M. galloprovincialis and C. gallina, reproducible in a domestic environment, to obtain food in which the microbiological risk was eliminated but, at the same time, preserved the original organoleptic characteristics. The results showed that for C. gallina and M. galloprovincialis, cooking for 2 minutes after opening all shells, according to a method suitable for home application, is sufficient to eliminate the microbiological risk.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Barile NB, Scopa M, Nerone E, Mascilongo G, Recchi S, Cappabianca S, Antonetti L, 2009. Study of the efficacy of a closed cycle depuration system on bivalve molluscs. Vet Ital 45:555-60.
Boffo L, Favretti M, Pezzuto A, Bonaventura C, Piovesana, A, Mioni R, 2018. La cottura come fattore di sicurezza alimentare nel consumo di molluschi bivalvi. Il Pesce 2/18:136-45.
CDC, 2006. Vibrio parahaemolyticus Infections associated with consumption of raw shellfish - three states. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 55:854-6.
Croci L, Suffredini E, Cozzi L, Toti L, 2002. Effects of depuration of molluscs experimentally contaminated with Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae O1 and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. J Appl Microbiol 92:460-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.2002.01548.x
EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), 2015. Evaluation of heat treatments, different from those currently established in the EU legislation, that could be applied to live bivalve molluscs from B and C production areas, that have not been submitted to purification or relaying, in order to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms. EFSA J 13:4332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4332
European Commission, 2002. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety. In: Official Journal, L 31/1, 01/02/2002.
European Commission, 2005. Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. In: Official Journal, L 338/1, 22/12/2005.
European Commission, 2011. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004. In: Official Journal, L 304/18, 22/11/2011.
European Commission, 2021. EUMOFA, European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products - Monthly highlights. No. 2/2021. Available from: https://op.europa.eu/s/z4rA.
European Commission, 2022. Mussel in the EU: price structure in the supply chain: focus on Spain, France, Italy, and Ireland: case study. Available from: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2771/024820.
FAO, WHO, 2012. Guidelines on the application of general principles of food hygiene to the control of viruses in food (CXG 79-2012). Available from: https://www.fao.org/input/download/standards/13215/CXG_079e.pdf.
ISO, 2015. Microbiology of the food chain - Horizontal method for the enumeration of beta-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli - Part 3: Detection and most probable number technique using 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-glucuronide. ISO Norm 16649-3:2015. International Organization for Standardization ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
ISO, 2017a. Microbiology of the food chain - Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and serotyping of Salmonella - Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.. ISO Norm 6579-1:2017. International Organization for Standardization ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
ISO, 2017b. Microbiology of the food chain - Horizontal method for the determination of Vibrio spp. Part 1: Detection of potentially enteropathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus. ISO 21872-1:2017. International Organization for Standardization ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
Lattos A, Chaligiannis I, Papadopoulos D, Giantsis IA, Petridou EI, Vafeas G, Staikou A, Michaelidis B, 2021. How safe to eat are raw bivalves? Host pathogenic and public health concern microbes within mussels, oysters, and clams in Greek markets. Foods 10:2793. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112793
Morrison C M, Armstrong A E, Evans S, Mild RM, Langdon C J, Joens LA, 2011. Survival of Salmonella Newport in oysters. Int J Food Microbiol 148:93-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2011.05.006
Ottaviani D, Leoni F, Rocchegiani E, Santarelli S, Masini L, Di Trani V, Canonico C, Pianetti A, Tega L, Carraturo A, 2009. Prevalence and virulence properties of non-O1 non-O139 Vibrio cholerae strains from seafood and clinical samples collected in Italy. Int J Food Microbiol 132:47-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2009.03.014
Ottaviani D, Leoni F, Rocchegiani E, Canonico C, Potenziani S, Santarelli S, Masini L, Mioni R, Carraturo A, 2010a. Prevalence, serotyping and molecular characterization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in mussels from Italian growing areas, Adriatic Sea. Environ Microbiol Rep 2:192-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-2229.2010.00134.x
Ottaviani D, Leoni F, Rocchegiani E, Canonico C, Potenziani S, Santarelli S, Masini L, Scuota S, Carraturo A, 2010 b. Vibrio parahaemolyticus-associated gastroenteritis in Italy: persistent occurrence of O3:K6 pandemic clone and emergence of O1:KUT serotype. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 66:452-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2009.11.015
Ottaviani D, Leoni F, Rocchegiani E, Mioni R, Costa A, Virgilio S, Serracca L, Bove D, Canonico C, Di Cesare A, Masini L, Potenziani S, Caburlotto G, Ghidini V, Lleo MM, 2013. An extensive investigation into the prevalence and the genetic and serological diversity of toxigenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Italian marine coastal waters. Environ Microbiol 15:1377-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02839.x
Ottaviani D, Chierichetti S, Rocchegiani, E, Santarelli S, Leoni F, 2017. Bioaccumulation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Mytilus galloprovincialis under experimental conditions. Aquac Res 48:356-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/are.12852
Ottaviani D, Medici L, Talevi G, Napoleoni M, Serratore P, Zavatta E, Bignami G, Masini L, Chierichetti S, Fisichella S, Leoni F, 2018a. Molecular characterization and drug susceptibility of non-O1/O139 V. cholerae strains of seafood, environmental and clinical origin, Italy. Food Microbiol 72:82-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2017.11.011
Ottaviani D, Chierichetti S, Angelico G, Forte C, Rocchegiani E, Manuali E, Leoni F, 2018b. Halobacteriovorax isolated from marine water of the Adriatic sea, Italy, as an effective predator of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, non-O1/O139 V. cholerae, V. vulnificus. J Appl Microbiol 125:1199-207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14027
Ottaviani D, Pieralisi S, Chierichetti S, Rocchegiani E, Hattab J, Mosca F, Tiscar PG, Leoni F, Angelico G, 2020. Vibrio parahaemolyticus control in mussels by a Halobacteriovorax isolated from the Adriatic Sea, Italy. Food Microbiol 92:103600. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2020.103600
Ovissipour M, Rasco B, Tang J, Shyam Sablani SS, 2013. Kinetics of quality changes in whole blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) during pasteurization, Food Res Int 53:141-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2013.04.029
Pascoli F, Pezzuto A, Buratin A, Piovesana A, Fortin A, Arcangeli G, Toffan A, 2016. Efficacy of domestic cooking inactivation of human hepatitis A virus in experimentally infected manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum). J Appl Microbiol 121:1163-71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.13242
Pieralisi S, Hattab J, Mosca F, Angelico G, Lanci L, Ottaviani D, Rocchegiani E, Tiscar G, 2024. Halobacteriovorax isolated from the Adriatic Sea to challenge Salmonella. Ital J Food Sci 36:30-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15586/ijfs.v36i2.2493
Rubini S, Galletti G, D’Incau M, Govoni G, Boschetti L, Berardelli C, Barbieri S, Merialdi G, Formaglio A, Guidi E, Bergamini M, Piva S, Serraino A, Giacometti F, 2018. Occurrence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica in bivalve molluscs and associations with Escherichia coli in molluscs and faecal coliforms in seawater. Food Control 84:429-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2017.08.035
Russo GL, Langellotti AL, Buonocunto G, Puleo S, Di Monaco R, Anastasio A, Vuoso V, Smaldone G, Baselice M, Capuano F, Garofalo F, Masi P, 2023. The sous vide cooking of Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis): safety and quality assessment. Foods 12:2900. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12152900
Santos A, Ricardo F, Domingues MRM, Patinha C, Calado R, 2023. Current trends in the traceability of geographic origin and detection of species-mislabeling in marine bivalves. Food Control 152:109840. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.109840
Sow H, Desbiens M, Morales-Rayas R, Ngazoa SE, Jean J, 2011. Heat inactivation of hepatitis A virus and a norovirus surrogate in soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria). Foodborne Pathog Dis 8:387-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2010.0681
Summa D, Lanzoni M, Castaldelli G, Fano E.A, Tamburini E, 2022. Trends and opportunities of bivalve shells’waste valorization in a prospect of circular blue bioeconomy. Resources 11:48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources11050048
How to Cite
1.
Doctors in the kitchen: standardization of a home cooking method for Chamelea gallina and Mytilus galloprovincialis to eliminate microbiological risk. Ital J Food Safety [Internet]. 2025 Aug. 4 [cited 2026 Mar. 10];14(4). Available from: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article/view/14011
Copyright (c) 2025 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.