Nuts have traditionally been considered a microbiologically safe product because of their low moisture content (low water activity). However, there have been a number of documented foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls caused by Salmonella in nuts and nut products.
This survey was conducted to gather information on the prevalence of Salmonella and E. coli in ready-to-eat (RTE) nuts and their products sold in Australia, both imported and domestically produced products.
Between January and June 2011, a total of 915 samples were collected from retailers, manufacturers and growers in New South Wales (NSW), the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Queensland (QLD), Tasmania (TAS), and Western Australia (WA).
Products sampled included pre-packaged and unpackaged, plain and salted nuts and nut products such as flavoured nuts, bars, spreads and sauces.
Excluded were items where nuts were not the major component such as breakfast cereals, dairy products, chocolate covered nuts, fruit and nut mix, and seeds and seed products such as pine nuts.
Nut types included almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, mixed nuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.
FoodWorld 