Use of quantitative microbial risk assessment when investigating foodborne illness outbreaks: The example of a monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium 4,5,12:i:− outbreak implicating beef burgers

The very high initial contamination level in frozen beef burgers is the primary cause of this large outbreak rather than bad cooking practices. Intensive investigations, modelling of the initial contamination and quantitative exposure and risk assessments are complementary to epidemiological investigation. They can be valuable elements for the assessment of missing information or the identification of the primary causes of outbreaks.