Food safety of transported meals in primary schools and kindergartens

The concepts of food safety and food quality are not static and are deeply linked to the evolution of societies and to the change of behaviour and eating habits of consumers (Margarida, 2011).

Some of the measures to avoid or reduce cross contamination can be related to heat treatment. This should successfully eliminate vegetative cells of potentially pathogenic microorganisms such as Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., coagulase positive staphylococci (group to which the staphylococcal aureus belong to) and reduce levels of Mesophiles (Fig. 1) (Silva, 2005).