Research Publications (Food Safety)

Background. The issue of microbial quality and safety of ready-to-eat foods has become a public health concern that needs to be addressed to protect the consumer’s health. Contamination of ready-to-eat foods by enteric pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is associated with potential health risks and can cause foodborne outbreaks.

Salmonella spp. represent a public health concern for humans and animals due to the increase of antibiotic resistances. In this scenario, the use of essential oils (EOs) could be a valid tool against Salmonella contamination of meat. This work compares the in vitro effectiveness of an Italian mixture of feed additives based on EOs (GR-OLI) with EO of Origanum vulgare L., recently admitted by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for animal use.

Cucumbers found in retail markets are often waxed to improve visual appeal and retard moisture loss. This waxing may affect bacterial survival and the waxing process may facilitate cross-contamination between cucumbers. This study assessed survival of Salmonella on waxed and un-waxed cucumbers and the potential for Salmonella cross-contamination during the waxing process. Fresh waxed or un-waxed cucumbers were spot-inoculated with a Salmonella enterica cocktail.

Cheeses are able to serve as suitable matrices for supplying probiotics to consumers, enabling appropriate conditions for bacteria to survive gastric transit and reach the gut, where they are assumed to promote beneficial processes. The present study aimed to evaluate the microbiological, immunological, and histological changes in the gut of Salmonella Enteritidis-challenged rats fed goat cheese supplemented with the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus EM1107.

Author(s): Amal Ben Hassena, Julie Haendiges, Sonia Zormati, Sonda Guermazi, Radhouane Gdoura, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona, Mariam Siala

Eggs are an important, low-cost, high-protein food with a balanced nutritional composition. The sanitary quality of commercial eggs is a bottleneck that needs to be overcome through the use of technologies that guarantee the safety of the product. This work aimed to prepare, characterize, and evaluate the coating of commercial eggs by chitosan filmogenic solutions and 1st- and 5th-generation quaternary ammonium salt components (QACs).

Multidrug-resistant (MDR; resistance to >3 antimicrobial classes) Salmonella enterica serovar I 4,[5],12:i:- strains were linked to a 2015 foodborne outbreak from pork. Strain USDA15WA-1, associated with the outbreak, harbors an MDR module and the metal tolerance element Salmonella Genomic Island 4 (SGI-4). Characterization of SGI-4 revealed that conjugational transfer of SGI-4 resulted in the mobile genetic element (MGE) replicating as a plasmid or integrating into the chromosome.

The Salmonellaenterica serovar Choleraesuis affects domestic pig and wild boar (WB), causing clinical salmonellosis. Iberian swine production is based on a free-range production system where WB and Iberian pig (IP) share ecosystems. This study focuses on the negative impact on the pork industry of infections due to this serotype, its role in the spread of antibiotic resistance, and its zoonotic potential.

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is a frequently reported pathogen causing abortion in mares. In this study, the preventive and therapeutic effects of phage PIZ SAE-01E2 against S. Abortusequi in a mouse model of abortion were investigated. Phage PIZ SAE-01E2 was stable at different temperatures (4 to 70°C) and pH values (pH 4 to 10) and could lyse the majority of the Salmonella serogroup O:4 and O:9 strains tested (25/28).

Author(s): Xin Yu, Hongwei Zhu, Yongheng Bo, Youzhi Li, Yue Zhang, Yang Liu, Jianlong Zhang, Linlin Jiang, Guozhong Chen, Xingxiao Zhang

Author(s): Özgül Aydin Demirarslan, Hamza Alasalvar, Zeliha Yildirim

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Many foodborne pathogens including E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica can develop biofilms on contact surfaces at meat processing plants. Due to the high tolerance of the biofilm cells associated with the 3-dimensional biofilm structure and the well-expressed bacterial polymeric extracellular substances (EPS), it is a real challenge to completely inactivate and remove mature biofilms as well as further prevent biofilm reoccurrence and pathogen survival.

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An essential feature of the pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis; wild type (WT)) is its ability to survive in diverse micro-environmental stress conditions such as encountering antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), glucose and micronutrient starvation. These stress factors trigger virulence genes encoded on Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs) and determine the efficiency of enteric infection.

Author(s): Bin Liu, Wanwan Hou, Ke Li, Qing Chen, Yaxin Liu, Tianli Yue

Salmonella enterica subspecies I (ssp 1) is the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths due to known bacterial foodborne pathogens in the United States and is frequently implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks associated with spices and nuts. However, the underlying mechanisms of this association have not been fully elucidated.

by Mark Achtman, John Wain, François-Xavier Weill, Satheesh Nair, Zhemin Zhou, Vartul Sangal, Mary G. Krauland, James L. Hale, Heather Harbottle, Alexandra Uesbeck, Gordon Dougan, Lee H. Harrison, Sylvain Brisse, the S. enterica MLST study group

The consumption of wildlife meat is traditionally accepted in the Peruvian Amazon; however, little is known about the pathogens present in this type of food. One of the most frequently consumed species is a rodent, the paca (Cuniculus paca) or “majaz” in the Peruvian language. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of Salmonella enterica and its antimicrobial resistance profile in paca carcasses sold in the Belen Market of Iquitos-Peru.

Author(s): Louis Anthony Cox

The microbiological contamination of food causes concern for public health due to the pathogenic action of microorganisms and the increasing of antimicrobial resistance observed in bacterial strains.

Enteric fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) and S. enterica serovar Paratyphi (S. Paratyphi), is a common travel-related illness. Limited data are available on the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of these serovars among travelers. Records of travelers with a culture-confirmed diagnosis seen during or after travel from January 2007 to December 2018 were obtained from GeoSentinel. Traveler demographics and antimicrobial susceptibility data were analyzed.

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria presents a global health challenge. Efficient surveillance of bacteria harboring antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a critical aspect to controlling the spread. Increased access to microbial genomic data from many diverse populations informs this surveillance but only when functional ARGs are identifiable within the data set.