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This research project will develop predictive models for the growth of Clostridium botulinum in food and food-relevant model systems.
<p>The development of predictive models for the growth of Clostridium botulinum in food and food-relevant model systems is essential for improved safety and the effective hazard identification and risk analysis that are required to be carried out by UK and EU laws.
<p>C. botulinum has the potential to produce neurotoxins that can cause death of consumers after consumption of food in which the toxin has been formed. Therefore, it is one of the most severe forms of food poisoning and it is of continued concern to the food industry.
<p>Consumer demands for increasing varieties of minimally treated convenience foods with low levels of sugar and salt or preservatives may increase the potential for C. botulinum to grow.
<p>The C. botulinum model represents the final part of the microorganisms studied in the Food MicroModel project. Selected growth models for proteolytic cocktails of C. botulinum strains were developed over a narrow range of conditions and limited validation studies of these models in food were carried out.
<p>The development of predictive models for the growth of C. botulinum is important to establish the physiological behaviour of the food pathogens in food systems at any given composition and to anticipate potential effects on its ability to grow and form toxin.
<p>The aim of this project was to develop predictive models for the growth of C. botulinum in food and food-relevant model systems.
Preparations of standardised and characterised spore crops of a variety of proteolytic strains of C. botulinum will be prepared.
<p>Cocktails of proteolytic strains of C. botulinum will be investigated over a range of different physiological conditions.
<p>The model system will investigate the effects of different concentrations of acetic acid and salt in conbination with various temperatures and pH.
<p>It will be established at pH 5.5, 6, 7 and temperatures of 15, 20 and 30°C. Salt concentrations used will be 0, 5, 7.5%.
<p>Ten-percent salt will be used in some of the initial experiments. Some growth/no-growth boundary experiments will be required as well the use of 2.5% salt. Acetic acid concentrations of 0, 0.5 and 1% will also be used.
<p>Part-baked breads containing acetate will be inoculated with a cocktail of proteolytic spores at a concentration of 10 cfu/g. The bread will be incubated aerobically and under vacuum at 5°C and 20°C.
<p>Minimally processed sous-vide type products will be challenged with a cocktail of non-proteolytic C. botulinum spores and these will also be incubated at 5°C to establish whether growth would occur.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.