Research Publications (Food Safety)

This study assessed the inhibitory effects of the essential oil from Origanum vulgare L. (OVEO) on Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and a mesophilic starter coculture composed of lactic acid bacteria (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris) in Brazilian coalho cheese systems. The MIC of OVEO was 2.5 μl/ml against both S. aureus and L. monocytogenes and 0.6 μl/ml against the tested starter coculture.

Listeriosis outbreaks have been associated with a variety of foods. This study investigated the prevalence and diversity of Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria spp. in ready-to-eat (RTE) products and evaluated the performance of a rapid detection method, the 3M molecular detection assay for L. monocytogenes (MDA-LM), for detection of L. monocytogenes. Assay results were compared with those obtained using the U.S.

The emetic toxin cereulide, which can be produced by Bacillus cereus, can be the cause of food poisoning upon ingestion by the consumer. The toxin causes vomiting and is mainly produced in farinaceous food products. This article includes the prevalence of B. cereus and of cereulide in food products in The Netherlands, a characterization of B.

Steak tartare is a popular meat dish in Belgium. It is prepared with raw minced beef and is eaten with sauce, vegetables, and spices. Because it contains raw meat, steak tartare is highly prone to bacterial spoilage. The objective of this study was to explore the diversity of bacterial flora in steak tartare in Belgium according to the source and to determine which bacteria are able to grow during shelf life.

In the present study, the efficacy of Cymbopogon citratus D.C. Stapf. essential oil (CCEO) to provoke a 5-log CFU/ml (5-log) inactivation in a mixed composite of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merril) juice (4°C) was assessed. Moreover, the effects of CCEO on the physicochemical and sensory quality parameters of pineapple juice were evaluated.

Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in beef roasts cooked under selected cooking conditions was evaluated. Eye of round roasts were each inoculated at five sites in the central plane with a five-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 at ca. 6.3 log CFU per site and cooked to center temperatures of 56 to 71°C in a convection oven set at 120, 140, 180, or 200°C, in a conventional oven set at 120 or 210°C, and in a slow cooker set on high or low.

The objective of this study was to characterize 365 nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica isolates from animal feed. Among the 365 isolates, 78 serovars were identified. Twenty-four isolates (7.0%) were recovered from three of six medicated feed types. Three of these isolates derived from the medicated feed, Salmonella Newport, Salmonella Typhimurium var. O 5−(Copenhagen), and Salmonella Lexington var. 15+ (Manila), displayed antimicrobial resistance.

Sodium nitrite has been identified as a key antimicrobial ingredient to control pathogens in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products, including Listeria monocytogenes. This study was designed to more clearly elucidate the relationship between chemical factors (ingoing nitrite, ascorbate, and residual nitrite) and L. monocytogenes growth in RTE meats.

Abstract

Boudewijn Catry, Jeroen Dewulf, Dominiek Maes, Bart Pardon, Benedicte Callens, Mia Vanrobaeys, Geert Opsomer, Aart de Kruif, Freddy Haesebrouck

Joshua D. Rouch, Andrew Scott, Nan Ye Lei, R. Sergio Solorzano-Vargas, Jiafang Wang, Elaine M. Hanson, Masae Kobayashi, Michael Lewis, Matthias G. Stelzner, James C. Y. Dunn, Lars Eckmann, Martín G. Martín

Background & Aims

Understanding how persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are released from adipose tissue (AT) to blood is a critical step in proposing rearing strategies hastening the removal of POPs from contaminated livestock. The current study aimed to determine in nonlactating ewes whether polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlordecone are released from AT to blood along with lipids during body fat mobilization achieved through β-agonist challenges or undernutrition.

We describe a simple protocol to inactivate the biosafety level 3 (BSL3) pathogens Brucella prior to their analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry. This method is also effective for several other bacterial pathogens and allows storage, and eventually shipping, of inactivated samples; therefore, it might be routinely applied to unidentified bacteria, for the safety of laboratory workers.

The potential to rapidly capture the entire microbial community structure and/or gene content makes metagenomic sequencing an attractive tool for pathogen identification and the detection of resistance/virulence genes in clinical settings.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has emerged as a powerful tool for comparing bacterial isolates in outbreak detection and investigation. Here we demonstrate that WGS performed prospectively for national epidemiologic surveillance of Listeria monocytogenes has the capacity to be superior to our current approaches using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA), binary typing, and serotyping.

Recent outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections associated with duodenoscopes used for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography have highlighted the challenge of cleaning and high-level disinfection of these instruments. The Food and Drug Administration has suggested that duodenoscope surveillance by microbiological culturing, along with strict adherence to reprocessing protocols, may help reduce the risk of duodenoscope-associated infection transmission.

Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg is the second most frequently occurring serovar in Quebec and the third-most prevalent in Canada. Given that conventional pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping for common Salmonella serovars, such as S. Heidelberg, yields identical subtypes for the majority of isolates recovered, public health laboratories are desperate for new subtyping tools to resolve highly clonal S. Heidelberg strains involved in outbreak events.

Publication date: Available online 28 January 2016


Author(s): Jung-Whan Chon, Young-Ji Kim, Hong-Seok Kim, Dong-Hyeon Kim, Kwang-Young Song, Kidon Sung, Kun-Ho Seo

Publication date: July 2016
, Volume 65

Author(s): Andrew M. Scollon, Haiqiang Wang, Elliot T. Ryser

Publication date: July 2016
, Volume 65

Author(s): Xiaohua He, Xuebin Xu, Ke Li, Bin Liu, Tianli Yue

Publication date: Available online 26 January 2016


Author(s): Yuan Yao Chen, Michael G. Gänzle

Publication date: 16 March 2016
, Volume 221

Author(s): Rabee A. Ombarak, Atsushi Hinenoya, Sharda Prasad Awasthi, Atsushi Iguchi, Ayaka Shima, Abdel-Rahman M. Elbagory, Shinji Yamasaki

Summary