Purpose: To systematically summarize and critically analyze the current knowledge on the microbiological safety of foods at retail in Costa Rica
Methods: To determine the current food safety information available about Costa Rica, the European Food Safety Authority guidelines for conducting systematic reviews in food and feed safety were followed. An online search in English and Spanish was performed on four databases – FSTA, Pubmed, SciELO, and Web of Science – every three months during two years. Any study reporting the “presence,” “prevalence,” “occurrence,” “incidence,” “concentration” or “levels” of any microbial pathogen in any kind of retail food sold in Costa Rica was considered.
Results: Forty four primary research reports were identified. Reports dealing with microbial contamination in institutional settings, primary food production, or street foods were excluded Most of the evidence reports described contamination of dairy products and produce. Other commodities included meat and poultry, fish and seafood, sugar, spices, and eggs. Very limited information about most commodities has been published. In what is published, extremely low samples sizes were used. Furthermore, no emergent pathogens were tested for on any commodity, except for one study of Clostridium difficile in retail meats. No national surveys were conducted for any product or pathogen, except for one study reporting the presence of Salmonella and Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli in retail beef products in urban and rural areas. Finally, studies reporting seasonality or presence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria were scarce. Most studies pointed out the presence of microbial pathogens at unacceptable levels.
Significance: This study identifies knowledge gaps and research opportunities to characterize and improve the safety of retail foods in Costa Rica.