Microbiological Survey of Retail Wheat Flour in Canada, 2018-2019

347 pre-packaged wheat flour samples were analyzed for bacterial pathogens and indicator organisms by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The survey was conducted from 2018 to 2019 following outbreaks linked to wheat flour. It provides baseline data on the occurrence of Salmonella, STEC, Listeria monocytogenes, and other microbial counts.

Use Cases

• Analyze the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes (detected in 0.6% of samples) against product metadata to identify contamination risk factors.
• Model the distribution of Aerobic Colony Counts (detected in 98.8% of samples) and total coliforms (72.6%) as microbial quality indicators.
• Investigate the occurrence rate of non-O157 STEC (isolated from 1.7% of samples) for outbreak source tracking and surveillance.
• Compare detection rates of Salmonella and STEC O157 (both not detected) with other pathogens to assess relative food safety risks.

Strengths

• 347 analyzed samples provide a substantive survey size for statistical analysis.
• Clear detection percentages are reported for six specific microbiological targets (e.g., 98.8% for Aerobic Colony Counts).
• Data is sourced from the authoritative Canadian Food Inspection Agency, ensuring regulatory relevance.

Limitations

• Sample size of 347 may be limited for detecting very low-frequency pathogens or for granular sub-group analysis.
• Data is from a single two-year period (2018-2019) and may not reflect current conditions or seasonal variations.
• Specific sample metadata (e.g., brand, region, storage conditions) is not described, limiting contextual analysis.

Provenance

Source

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Collection Method

Laboratory analysis of retail pre-packaged wheat flour samples for specified pathogens and indicator organisms.

Time Range

2018 to 2019

Freshness

Data covers 2018-2019; last platform update was 2026-04-08, but underlying survey is not recent.

Geography

Canada