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The food control and regulatory system in Zimbabwe is beset by many challenges. The system is fragmented and consists of many entities in the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and in local authorities. There are no clear mechanisms to coordinate the activities of these different entities and, in practice, they act independently except in times of a national food safety challenge. This, therefore, makes it difficult to ensure food safety throughout the food chain. Lack of the requisite resources is a major contributory factor to weaknesses in the food control system. In view of the food safety challenges in Zimbabwe, the food control system in the country is currently being reviewed. This paper describes and compares the current system with the proposed food control system as outlined in the draft Food Control Bill 2011. Particular attention is given to the establishment and functions of a Food Control Authority of Zimbabwe which will replace the existing State authorities in the control and regulation of food. The proposed Food Control Bill 2011 has provisions for a coordinated approach to food safety which would strengthen and improve food regulation in Zimbabwe. It includes proposals to bring together all inspection and analytical services under the supervision of one organisation. However the priority given to enhancing the overall supply of food and the lack of resources to develop a modern food control system is leading to continuing delays in implementing an enhanced food control system for food safety and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The standard Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) protocol for detecting Listeria in food and on environmental surfaces takes about 96h. Some studies indicate that rapid methods, which produce results within 48h, may be as sensitive and accurate as the culture protocol. As they only give presence/absence results, it can be difficult to compare the accuracy of results generated. We used the Most Probable Number (MPN) technique to evaluate the performance and detection limits of six rapid kits for detecting Listeria in seafood and on an environmental surface compared with the standard protocol. Three seafood products and an environmental surface were inoculated with similar known cell concentrations of Listeria and analyzed according to the manufacturers'' instructions. The MPN was estimated using the MPN-BAM spreadsheet. For the seafood products no differences were observed among the rapid kits and efficiency was similar to the BAM method. On the environmental surface the BAM protocol had a higher recovery rate (sensitivity) than any of the rapid kits tested. Clearview™, Reveal®, TECRA® and VIDAS® LDUO detected the cells but only at high concentrations (>102 CFU/10cm2). Two kits (VIP™ and Petrifilm™) failed to detect 104 CFU/10cm2. The MPN method was a useful tool for comparing the results generated by these presence/absence test kits. There remains a need to develop a rapid and sensitive method for detecting Listeria in environmental samples that performs as well as the BAM protocol, since none of the rapid tests used in this study achieved a satisfactory result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]