Research Publications (Food Safety)

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 (EHEC) causes severe complications such as hemolytic uremic syndrome. Contaminated ready-to-eat (RTE) food is one of the vehicles of multijurisdictional outbreaks of foodborne disease worldwide. Multijurisdictional (covering cities, towns, and villages) outbreaks of EHEC are usually linked to an increase in cases, and here we describe such an outbreak involving 29 cases in October 2017 in the Niigata Prefecture.

New strategies are needed to fight the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria caused by an overuse of antibiotics in medical and veterinary fields. Due to the importance of biofilms in clinical infections, antibiofilm peptides have a great potential to treat infections. In recent years, an increased interest has emerged in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). One of the richest sources of AMPs is represented by amphibian skin.

Virulent strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups O103 and O121 are considered adulterants in beef. Two high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR assays were standardized for the specific detection and discrimination of potentially virulent and avirulent strains of E. coli O103 and O121. The O103 HRM assay offered the possibility to distinguish clearly STEC O103:H2 from STEC O103:H25.

Inshell walnuts could be contaminated with pathogens through direct contact or cross-contamination during harvesting and postharvest hulling, drying, or storage. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of ultraviolet–C (UV–C) radiation in inactivating foodborne pathogens on inshell walnut surfaces.

Consumption of food that is contaminated with Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been linked to serious foodborne disease outbreaks. Our aim was to provide a descriptive study on the presence and virulence factors of STEC and non-STEC O157 isolates recovered from 2017 diverse meat and meat product samples from all provinces of South Africa (n = 1758) and imported meat from South Africa's major ports of entry (n = 259).

The antibacterial effect of oregano oil and tannic acid (TA) on the aerobic plate count (APC), Enterobacteriaceae (ENT), Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica in raw ground chicken breast meat (RGCBM) held at 4 °C and 10 °C was studied.

Fresh juices are often exposed to microbial contamination due to their minimal processing, which can lead to foodborne disease.

In the present study, we assessed the bactericidal effect of a combination of blue light (BL) and riboflavin (Rb) and elucidated the bacterial inactivation mechanism. Higher Rb concentrations (0.005–50 μM) resulted in greater inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium suspended in phosphate buffer saline (PBS).

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica are important pathogens worldwide. Bacteriophages can be effectively used to reduce the incidence of foodborne pathogens. The host recognition systems of phages are highly specific, with the host range of a common phage being limited to the species or strain level. Here, we characterized a novel broad-host-range phage, EscoHU1, that infects several bacterial species, including E.

Widespread multidrug-resistant (MDR) and multi-virulent diarrheagenic E. coli create several crises among human and animal populations worldwide. For this reason, we looked forward to a breakthrough with this issue and tried to highlight these emerging threats. A total of 140 diarrheagenic E. coli isolates were recovered from animal and human sources. The O26 serotype, alongside the ampicillin/cefoxitin resistance phenotype, was predominant among both human and animal isolates.

Lauric arginate (LAE), an amino acid-based cationic surfactant, has recently attracted great attentions for applications in food preservation due to its antimicrobial properties. This work aimed to unravel the possible antibacterial mechanisms of LAE against Escherichia coli O157:H7. After exposure to LAE at 50 μg/mL for 10 min, the microbial load decreased by 6.25-log units.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), particularly seven serogroups O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145, and O157, are major food borne pathogens. Cattle are a major reservoir in which STEC colonize the hindgut and are shed in the feces. Most cattle shed the organisms at low concentrations and a small proportion, called super shedders, shed at high concentrations (≥ 104 per g).

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Pseudomonas were considered as common colonizers of fresh and spoilage meat, where they tended to live in the proximity. In this study, we tested the interplay between different isolates of E. coli O157:H7 and Pseudomonas in random two-by-two combinations grown as dual-species consortia. Results showed that the growth fitness of E.

Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains of the serogroup O157 are foodborne pathogens associated with severe clinical disease. As antibiotics are counter-indicated for treatment of these infections, they represent prime candidates for targeted application of bacteriophages to reduce infection burden. In this study, we characterised lytic bacteriophages representing three phage genera for activity against E. coli O157 strains.

The most commonly reported serotype of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is O157:H7. This pathogen presents a threat to public health and is a cause of foodborne illness worldwide. The efficient and sensitive detection of E. coli O157:H7 remains a challenge for food safety. In this report, we developed a sensitive and specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction coupled with a lateral flow (LF) assay to rapidly detect E. coli O157:H7.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Human infection with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes an estimated 2.8 million cases of acute illness worldwide each year. Serogroup O157 is the most commonly diagnosed STEC in humans, but cases linked to non-O157 STEC serogroups have increased recently due to increased surveillance and improvements to detection methods.

Background The Thermo Scientific SureTect™ Escherichia coli O157:H7 and STEC Screening PCR Assay and SureTect Escherichia coli STEC Identification PCR Assay are real-time PCR kits for the rapid detection of E. coli O157:H7 and non-E. coli O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotypes (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145) from fresh raw spinach, fresh baby leaves, fresh cut tomatoes, frozen raw beef, raw beef trim, and beef carcass sponges.

Escherichia coli O157 (E. coli O157) is one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogens worldwide. A convenient, sensitive, and specific method for the E. coli O157 detection is necessary. The present study developed an isothermal real-time recombinase polymerase amplification (real-time RPA) assay and an RPA combined with lateral flow strip (LFS-RPA) to detect E. coli O157 targeting the conserved region of the rfbE gene.

Effects of thyme essential oil (TEO) emulsion (TEE) with cationic charge formulated using cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) on attachment strength and inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on romaine lettuce surface were examined in this study.

Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, and Shigella flexneri are typical foodborne pathogens in ground beef, which can cause severe infection even when present as a single cell. Flow cytometry (FCM) methods are widely applied in the rapid detection of pathogens in food products. In this study, we report an FCM-based method for detecting single cells of Salmonella, E.

Journal of Food Process Engineering, EarlyView. A food safety agent-based model (FS-ABS) with discrete time event simulation using NetLogo© was developed to predict the levels of cross-contamination in a lettuce processing facility. Visualization of the whole processing line shows different lettuce pieces around each equipment's surface.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, EarlyView. A new gelatin-protocatechuic acid (PCA) film with Escherichia coli O157:H7 phage JN01 was developed and characterised. After incorporated with JN01, swelling value, water vapour permeability, water solubility and elongation at break of gelatin-PCA film were not significantly different.

Catecholamine stress hormones (norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine) are signals that have been shown to be used as environmental cues, which affect the growth and virulence of normal microbiota as well as pathogenic bacteria. It has been reported that Escherichia coli and Salmonella use the two-component system proteins QseC and QseE to recognise catecholamines and so act as bacterial adrenergic receptors. In this study, we mutated the E.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Foodborne illness outbreaks caused by consuming cantaloupe melon contaminated with Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7 are recurrent. The objective of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the combination of chitosan (Q) and extracellular metabolites of Pediococcus pentosaceus CM175 (EmPp) on the surface of cantaloupe against E.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is one of the most important foodborne pathogens that can persist in leafy green vegetables and subsequently produce biofilms. Biofilm formation is an ongoing concern in the food industry as biofilms are relatively resistant to a variety of antimicrobial treatments. In the present study, we evaluated the combined effects of phage FP43 and mild-heated slightly acidic hypochlorous water (SAHW) in reducing established biofilms on lettuce.