Assessment of Food Business Operators’ Training on Parasitological Risk Management in Sushi Restaurants: A Local Survey in Florence, Italy

Food business operators (FBOs) are required to implement hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) procedures to manage risks associated with products they handle. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge on zoonotic parasites associated with raw seafood of 23 FBOs responsible for sushi restaurants. The survey, carried out in the city of Florence in 2012, and repeated in 2014, was based on a questionnaire focusing mainly on the freezing treatments applied to manage parasitological risks. Despite a slight increase between the two surveys (70% in 2012 to 89% in 2014) in the awareness of FBOs of the need for a preventive treatment to be applied to fishery products before being served raw, our results highlight that FBOs who act in accordance with this regulation is low. In particular, only 40% of FBOs in 2012 and 54.5% in 2014 used the blast chiller according to the relevant regulations. We observed shortcomings in the use of inappropriate temperatures and/or treatment duration. Thus, there is an urgent need to raise the training level of FBOs and to increase their awareness on the parasitological hazards related to the serving of raw seafood.