Title: Processing guide for fish processing plants in Kenya

In 1929, it was first reported that Listeria monocytogenes could cause disease in humans. In 1980, there was an outbreak of the disease in Auckland, New Zealand resulting in 5 deaths and 22 perinatal cases. Investigators suggested that the consumption of raw seafood may have been a contributory factor. This evidence was epidemiological rather than microbiological. There are a number of different ways by which Listeria monocytogenes and other pathogenic organisms can enter into the seafood processing plants and contaminate fish and seafood products, the main ones being run off from agricultural farms, direct faecal contamination by animals (man inclusive), sewage and seafood contact surfaces. Quantitative ATP bioluminescence, RODAC and TVC was used to determine the cleanliness and disinfection of a seafood plant located in Reykjavik, Iceland and results compared. These methods were used to assess the amount of contaminants on the sampled seafood contact and non contact surfaces. TVC was also used to assess the bacterial load on fish and seafood products. However, there was no correlation as per the microbes between these assessment methods. These methods can, on the other hand, be rendered useful for checking cleanliness of the seafood plant facilities, decisions/issues related to hazards and regulatory pitfalls to harmonise definitions currently used so sanitation as well as process control consideration can be fully integrated into the HACCP concept. In real sense sanitation critical control points are pervasive throughout processing facility (e.g., potable water) and is not restricted to any particular processing step, while a process critical control point, on the other hand relates to a particular processing step where, at that step through a manipulation of the process, a hazard can either be eliminated, prevented or reduced to an acceptable level. Many assume that sanitation considerations are covered in good manufacturing practices and therefore should not be part of a regulatory HACCP system, but by the rule of thumb, it should be decisive to include sanitation considerations within the scope of HACCP system to ensure safe and quality seafood. The results clearly shows that quality and quality assessment are issues that are to be well addressed by inspectors and processors in the fisheries processing sector and the need for a uniform and non-erroneous assessment method is inevitable.