Happy hours: could chips and nuts be vector of food-borne outbreaks?

BACKGROUND The global interest in handling food has increased over the years. Greater handling raises the risk of contamination, also in the backed food. The aim of this study is to understand the type and level of microbial contamination in the food that is served along happy hour in the bars/coffee. METHODS This pilot study was performed from April to May 2018 in a city of central Italy ( RESULTS A significant yeasts contamination appeared only on potatoes at T0 (p CONCLUSIONS We showed an increase in the microbial load associated with food handling, mostly of Enterococci. Long time of exposition increased the likelihood of contamination and the possibility to exceed the dose for the occurrence of disease. Offering small portions of handling food would reduce the manipulation by participants and the risk of food-borne outbreaks.