Research Publications (Food Safety)

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a marine oriented pathogen; and biofilm formation enables its survival and persistence on seafood processing plant, complicating the hygienic practice. The objectives of this study are to assess the ability of V.

Peracetic acid (PAA) applied to whole poultry carcasses can reduce the number of Campylobacter, a leading cause of human gastroenteritis. However, previous modelling experiments indicated that Campylobacter survived in greater numbers when pre-treated with a thermal stress equivalent to poultry processing scalding prior to chilling with PAA than when subject to chilling with PAA only.

Nutrients on produce surfaces are vital for successful enteric pathogen colonisation. In this study, we investigated natural variation in metabolite profiles of Romaine ‘Parris Island Cos’ and red oak-leaf lettuce ‘Mascara’ under regular and restricted watering conditions.

As one major foodborne pathogen, Salmonella can cause serious food poisoning outbreaks worldwide. Bacteriophage therapy is increasingly considered as one of the promising antibacterial agents for the biocontrol of foodborne pathogens. In the current study, a lytic phage STG2 capable of infecting S. enteritidis and S.

The adaptive response of bacterial cells to changing environmental conditions depends on the behavior of single cells within the population. Exposure of Listeria monocytogenes to sublethal acidic conditions in foods or in the gastrointestinal track of the host may induce injuries relevant to difficult physiological states within the dormancy continuum.

Sprouts have been involved in many outbreaks of salmonellosis where seeds were identified as the likely source of contamination. This study aimed to develop an effective heat treatment that could achieve a >5-log reduction of Salmonella inoculated on alfalfa seeds while maintaining seed viability and vigor. Effects of seeds' water activity (aw) and heat treatment temperature on Salmonella inactivation and seed viability were determined.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of foodborne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes is globally on the rise in the food industry.

In this work, the chemical composition of Thymus zygis subsp. gracilis collected from Ifrane, Morocco, along with the evaluation of the antibacterial, anti-biofilm of Listeria monocytogenes activities, larvicidal effect against L3 larvae

This study evaluated the survival of Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut melon and papaya treated with citral nanoemulsion (CN) during 7 days of storage at 4, 8, 12, and 16 °C.

Gram-negative Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a halophilic human pathogen known to be the leading cause of food poisoning associated with consuming uncooked or undercooked seafood. The increasing presence and contamination of seafood have caused serious safety concerns in food facilities. Notably, it can form biofilms on food surfaces that confer resistance to antimicrobial treatments.

Oysters and mussels are important vectors for norovirus (NoV). An efficient pretreatment method for NoV detection in oysters based on ISO 15216-2:2019 was established in our previous work, but its effectiveness for other types of shellfish remains unknown. Therefore, this study systematically compared the differences between the standard and modified ISO methods in detecting NoV for oysters and mussels.

The growing idea that natural products are better for consumption is creating behaviors that can lead to food safety problems and an increase of healthcare costs. One of the trending products is raw milk, which in some countries is sold by vending machines outside dairy farms. Campylobacteriosis is the most common gastrointestinal infection in humans in the European Union since 2005.

Transcriptomic analysis was used to investigate the antibacterial mechanism of phenolic compounds from kefir fermented soy whey (FSP) against Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes. The kefir fermentation increased the concentration of several phenolic aglycones with proven antibacterial efficacy in the FSP. The time-kill curve showed that 2× MICs of the FSP killed >99.9 % of the strains within 2 h of exposure.

Escherichia coli O104:H4 strain 11-3088 encoding Stx2a is epidemiologically related to the foodborne outbreak associated with sprouts in Germany, 2011. Sprouting provides suitable conditions for bacterial growth and may lead to transduction of non-pathogenic strains of E. coli with Stx phages. Although transduction of E. coli by Stx phages in food has been documented, data on the phages from E. coli O104:H4 is limited.

Clostridium perfringens is a bacterial species of importance to both public and animal health. Frequently found in food system environments, it presents a risk to food animal health such as dairy herds, and may cross contaminate associated ingredients or food products, with potential to cause sporadic and outbreaks of disease in human populations, including gastroenteric illness. In this study, we characterized C.

Listeria monocytogenes is a relevant foodborne pathogen causing invasive listeriosis in humans, a disease with high mortality rates. Its ubiquity and growth characteristics enable this pathogen to survive harsh food processing environments. The addition of bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides ribosomally synthesized by certain bacteria, appears as a natural alternative to control this pathogen in food. However, the emergence of L.

Invasive listeriosis is a potentially fatal foodborne disease that according to this study may affect up to 32.9 % of the US population considered as increased risk and including people with underlying conditions and co-morbidities. Listeria monocytogenes has been scrutinized in research and surveillance programs worldwide in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) food commodities (RTE salads, deli meats, soft/semi-soft cheese, seafood) and frozen vegetables in the last 30 years with an estima

The primary seafood-borne pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus seriously threats the health of consumers preferring raw-fish products, becoming a global concern in food safety. In the present study, we found ferrous sulfate (FeSO4), a nutritional iron supplement, could efficiently induce the death of V. parahaemolyticus. Further, the bactericidal mechanisms of FeSO4 were explored.

A total of 1797 imported food samples collected during 2018 to 2020 were investigated for Listeria monocytogenes. Antibiotic susceptibility tests and whole genome sequencing analysis were performed for the obtained isolates. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 5.62 %; the highest prevalence was observed for pork (13.65 %), followed by fish (6.25 %), sheep casing (6.06 %), chicken (3.61 %), and beef (2.06 %).

Florfenicol, an animal-specific broad-spectrum antibiotic, has been widely used in livestock and poultry breeding, which leads to the high antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of Campylobacter in food animals.

Listeriosis is a foodborne disease caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen that modulates its intracellular survival via vacuolar escape and cytosolic replication. In the present study, we examined the ability of 58 L. monocytogenes isolates recovered in Brazil (beef, clinical and environmental samples, from 1978 to 2013) to invade, replicate and spread in a human intestinal epithelial cell line (Caco-2).

Listeria monocytogenes, as a food-associated pathogen, is able to develop biofilms on different surfaces of food contact, which seriously threatens food safety. Phenyllactic acid (PLA) exhibits excellent inhibitory effects on many bacterial strains including L.

Salmonella enterica is one of the leading causes of foodborne gastroenteritis worldwide. In the food production environment, many bacterial species co-exist on surfaces in biofilm structures, which can act as reservoirs of microbial contamination of food products. Polymicrobial biofilms have been shown to have greater tolerance to antimicrobials, such as disinfectants, however the mechanistic basis of this is poorly understood. In this study, S.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important crop in Argentina. Aspergillus flavus may infect this crop at growing stage and the harvested kernels can be contaminated with aflatoxins (AFs), whose levels may increase during storage. In Argentina, silo bags, a hermetic type of storage system, are widely used. Biocontrol based on competitive exclusion by atoxigenic A. flavus strains is a useful tool for AFs management at pre-harvest stage.

Conventional treatments are not effective enough to completely remove Listeria monocytogenes biofilms from surfaces, thus implying the presence of certain persistent bacterial forms. In this study, eleven treatments (i.e. two enzymatic agents applied at two different temperatures and concentrations, two alkaline cleaners and one acid detergent) were used to remove mature L. monocytogenes S2-bac biofilms.