[Rapid Bacterial Testing for Food Safety: A Case Study from the Tokyo 2020 Games]

This study investigated the effectiveness of an automated enumeration system for viable bacteria (TEMPO method) in comparison with conventional methods. Subsequently, the method was applied to detect bacterial contamination in food and other samples to ensure food hygiene and safety during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020 Games).Comparative testing using commercially available food products demonstrated consistent results across most test items, however, the results were discrepant for vegetables and fruits (agreement rate: 71-88%).During the Tokyo 2020 Games, which were conducted as a large-scale international event, using the TEMPO method considerably decreased the workload by eliminating tasks such as media preparation, serial dilution, sample-agar mixture preparation, bacterial count measurement, and follow-up evaluation of positive samples. Consequently, the TEMPO method substantially decreased the testing time and the number of required personnel. Therefore, rapid bacterial testing approach is an effective method to support and validate food hygiene and safety in such large-scale events.