Category Archives: Food Microbiology Research

USA – 641 CASES OF CYCLOSPORA REPORTED IN US: NEW OUTBREAK LINKED TO SALAD PRODUCT

Posted on July 27, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Inventiva

More than 640 people in 11 US states have been diagnosed with Cyclospora, with the outbreak possibly related to bagged salad products. The bagged salads included iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots. Symptoms of cyclosporiasis, a disease caused by a microscopic parasite, include lack of appetite and weight loss, bloating, nausea, low-grade fever, weakness, and diarrhea. Cases have been recorded in almost a dozen states between May and this month. Of those infected with the multi-state outbreak of Cyclospora, 37 were hospitalized, the Food and Drug Administration said. There were no confirmed deaths.

The outbreak is being investigated by the FDA, the CDC, and the state and local authorities. Cyclospora infections may be linked to salad products manufactured by Fresh Express containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots and distributed in several regions of the United States.

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Posted in Cyclospora, Cyclosporiasis, food bourne outbreak, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, food recall, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, outbreak, Parasite, Uncategorized

Research – Punicalagin Damages the Membrane of Salmonella Typhimurium

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

JFP

Salmonella , a bacterial, food-borne pathogen, can contaminate meat, milk, and vegetables. While appropriate measures are available to control Salmonella , the inhibitory phytochemicals from plants are gaining increased attention. Punicalagin, a natural antibiotic, is one of the main active tannins isolated from Punica granatum L . To obtain a broader understanding of the effect of punicalagin on the cell membranes of Salmonella typhimurium , the killing kinetics, extracellular potassium concentration, release of cell constituents, intracellular pH (pH in ), membrane potential, and morphological features were characterized to elucidate the mechanisms of action. Treatment with punicalagin induced an increase in the extracellular concentrations of potassium and a release of cell constituents. A higher pH gradient, an increase in the pH in and cell membrane depolarization were observed after punicalagin treatment. Electron microscopy observations showed that the cell membrane structures of S. typhimurium were damaged by punicalagin. It is concluded that punicalagin inhibits the proliferation of S. typhimurium and destroys the integrity of the cell membrane, leading to a loss of cell homeostasis. These findings indicate that punicalagin has the potential to be used as a food preservative in order to control S. typhimurium contamination in food and reduce the risk of salmonellosis.

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Technology, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Research, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research – Researchers identify biofilm hotspots, document danger zones

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Scientists in Austria have investigated where biofilms hide and what bacteria can be found in them.

Biofilms are proven sources of contamination in the food industry. They can cause additional costs in production and can be a danger to consumer health.

Researchers at the unit of food microbiology at Vetmeduni Vienna looked at biofilms in an Austrian meat processing environment that included pork, poultry and beef. Knowledge gained on presence and composition, published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, could help to prevent and reduce biofilm formation within food processing environments.

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Posted in Biofilm, Contaminated water, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Pathogen, pathogenic, Research, Uncategorized, Water, water microbiology, Water Safety

Research -Spatial Trends in Salmonella Infection in Pigs in Spain

Posted on July 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Frontiers in Science

 

Salmonella is one of the most important foodborne pathogens worldwide. Its main reservoirs are poultry and pigs, in which infection is endemic in many countries. Spain has one of the largest pig populations in the world. Even though Salmonella infection is commonly detected in pig farms, its spatial distribution at the national level is poorly understood. Here we aimed to report the spatial distribution of Salmonella-positive pig farms in Spain and investigate the presence of potential spatial trends over a 17-year period. For this, data on samples from pigs tested for Salmonella in 2002–2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019 as part of the Spanish Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance program, representing 3,730 farms were analyzed. The spatial distribution and clustering of Salmonella-positive pig farms at the province level were explored using spatial empirical Bayesian smoothing and global Moran’s I, local Moran’s I, and the Poisson model of the spatial scan statistics. Bayesian spatial regression using a reparameterized Besag-York-Mollié Poisson model (BYM2 model) was then performed to quantify the presence of spatially structured and unstructured effects while accounting for the effect of potential risk factors for Salmonella infection at the province level. The overall proportion of Salmonella-positive farms was 37.8% (95% confidence interval: 36.2–39.4). Clusters of positive farms were detected in the East and Northeast of Spain. The Bayesian spatial regression revealed a West-to-East increase in the risk of Salmonella infection at the province level, with 65.2% (50% highest density interval: 70–100.0%) of this spatial pattern being explained by the spatially structured component. Our results demonstrate the existence of a spatial variation in the risk of Salmonella infection in pig farms at the province level in Spain. This information can help to optimize risk-based Salmonella surveillance programs in Spain, although further research to identify farm-level factors explaining this pattern are needed.

Introduction

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Posted in Food Microbiology Research, Research, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research – Biofilm-forming ability of pathogenic strains isolated from retail food in Poland

Posted on July 25, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Journal of Food Protection

Biofilms have a significant impact on food safety in the food industry. Many foodborne outbreaks have been associated with pathogenic strains that can form a biofilm. The present study aimed to examine the ability to form biofilms by pathogenic strains collected from retail food samples under the Official Control and Monitoring Program in Poland. Biofilm formation was assessed by the qualitative detection of EPS production on Congo Red Agar, tube method, crystal violet biofilm assay, and MTT assay. A total of 40 isolates from food samples (10 strains for each of the species Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus ) were examined. . . The study classifies strains as adherent strain, slightly adherent, nonadherent (A, SA and N); as weak, moderate, and strong biofilm formation (WBF, MBF and SBF); and weak, moderate, and high metabolic activity (WMA, MMA and HMA). Incubation conditions and time influenced the biofilm levels formed. Moreover, growth medium had a significant impact on biofilm formation. Results showed that 22.5% strains demonstrated A type in LBB and 77.5% SA type in LBB in the test tube while the stronger adhesion was obtained in BHI with 2% sucrose. Among the isolates incubated in the BHI medium with 2% sucrose, A type was observed in 60% of isolates (60%).. CV assay result show that the after 24 h incubation in LBB, SBP was 7,5% while after 48 h – 37.5% tested strains. For BHI medium supplemented with 2% sucrose after 24 h incubation strains 42.5% was classified as SBP and 37.6% after 48h.MTT assay result indicate that 15% strains incubate in LBB (24h) was HMA, and after 48h incubation time HMA show 25%. For BHI medium supplemented with 2% sucrose after 24 h or 48 h incubation strains 70% and 85 % was classified as HMA.

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Posted in Bacillus, Bacillus cereus, Biofilm, E.coli, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Staphylococcus aureus, Uncategorized, water microbiology

Research – Survival of toxigenic Escherichia coli on chamomile, peppermint, green, black, ginger, and cinnamon teas during storage and brewing

Posted on July 25, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

In this study, the persistence of toxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli ) on dried chamomile, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, black and green teas stored under 4, 10, and 25°C was determined. The E. coli survival rate in ginger and cinnamon teas decreased below 0 on Day 5. In the other tested teas, E. coli survivability showed a downward trend over time, but never dropped to 0. Chamomile tea retained the greatest population of viable E. coli . Meanwhile, die‐off of E. coli was higher at 25°C compared to lower temperatures. Additionally, fate of E. coli during brewing at 60, 70 and 80°C was evaluated. The E. coli population was reduced to below 2 Log colony forming units (CFU)/g after 1 min at 80°C, At the same time, the E. coli survival at 60°C was higher than that at 70°C in all tested teas. The data indicated that if E. coli survives after storage of prepared teas, it may also survive and grow after the brewing process, especially if performed using temperatures <80°C. Finally, we analyzed the correlations between temperature, time, tea varieties and E. coli survival, and successfully constructed a random forest regression model. The results of this study can be used to predict changes in E. coli during storage and fate during the brewing process. Results will form the basis of undertaking a risk assessment.

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Posted in E.coli, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Pathogen, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Testing, Food Toxin, Research, Uncategorized

Research – Study suggests green tea extracts could reduce risk of infection with diarrhoea-causing Norovirus

Posted on July 24, 2020 by | Leave a comment

First Post

Scientists also found that green tea extract in combination with chitosan films can reduce levels of bacteria such as E coli and L innocua to undetectable levels after 24 hours of exposure

It’s not uncommon for one to get an upset stomach occasionally, particularly after eating outside food. This is often the result of different kinds of bacteria and viruses present in the food items. In a research, published in the International Journal of Food Science on 4 July 2020, scientists found that green tea extracts can help in reducing the risk of getting infected with a diarrhoea-causing virus known as norovirus.

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Posted in E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Listeria, Listeria innocua, microbial contamination, Microbiology, Norovirus, Research, Uncategorized

Pakistan – Aflatoxins: A peril which limits the export of maize crop from Pakistan

Posted on July 24, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Cabi Blog

The agriculture sector is one of the most climate-sensitive sectors of Pakistan’s economy. It responds to temperature, precipitation, soil radiation, etc., which are directly associated with climate change. Rising temperature, uneven distribution of precipitation, floods, droughts, and other climatic disasters have affected human life along with socio-economic sectors of the world.

In Pakistan, maize is one of the important cereal crops which contributes 2.2 percent to the valued added products and 0.4 percent to the GDP. It is grown on an area of 1251 hectares with production of 5901 tonnes. In recent years, some mycotoxins, which we refer as Aflatoxins have been detected in maize crop grown in Pakistan. It has limited the export of Pakistani corn which causes losses in the economic benefit for all the chain actors linked with maize.

On the other hand, its consumption in the domestic market has been increased dramatically as Pakistani feed industry process/mill thousands of tons of maize every year to surge the demand of poultry sector. To address the issue of aflatoxin in maize crop, USDA and USAID joined hands with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd and CAB International to implement a programme namely ‘Aflatoxin Control in Pakistan’ using a cutting-edge USDA biocontrol technology.

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Posted in Aflatoxin, food contamination, Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Testing, Food Toxin, mold, Mould Toxin, Moulds, Mycotoxin, Uncategorized

Research – Evasion of Plant Innate Defense Response by Salmonella on Lettuce

Posted on July 22, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Frontiers in Microbiology

To establish host association, the innate immune system, which is one of the first lines of defense against infectious disease, must be circumvented. Plants encounter enteric foodborne bacterial pathogens under both pre- and post-harvest conditions. Human enteric foodborne pathogens can use plants as temporary hosts. This unique interaction may result in recalls and illness outbreaks associated with raw agricultural commodities. The purpose of this study was to determine if Salmonella enterica Typhimurium applied to lettuce leaves can suppress the innate stomatal defense in lettuce and utilization of UD1022 as a biocontrol against this ingression. Lettuce leaves were spot inoculated with S. Typhimurium wild type and its mutants. Bacterial culture and confocal microscopy analysis of stomatal apertures were used to support findings of differences in S. Typhimurium mutants compared to wild type. The persistence and internalization of these strains on lettuce was compared over a 7-day trial. S. Typhimurium may bypass the innate stomatal closure defense response in lettuce. Interestingly, a few key T3SS components in S. Typhimurium were involved in overriding stomatal defense response in lettuce for ingression. We also show that the T3SS in S. Typhimurium plays a critical role in persistence of S. Typhimurium in planta. Salmonella populations were significantly reduced in all UD1022 groups by day 7 with the exception of fliB and invA mutants. Salmonella internalization was not detected in plants after UD1022 treatment and had significantly higher stomatal closure rates (aperture width = 2.34 μm) by day 1 compared to controls (8.5 μm). S. Typhimurium SPI1 and SPI2 mutants showed inability to reopen stomates in lettuce suggesting the involvement of key T3SS components in suppression of innate response in plants. These findings impact issues of contamination related to plant performance and innate defense responses for plants.

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Posted in Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Research, Salmonella, Uncategorized

Research -New study shows link between animal operation and orchard contamination

Posted on July 22, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

One in every five air samples in almond orchards adjacent to a poultry operation tested positive for E. coli during a two-year study published recently.

“Microorganisms Move a Short Distance into an Almond Orchard from an Adjacent Upwind Poultry Operation” comes as romaine growers continue to study the impact of a 100,000-head cattle feed lot adjacent to Arizona growing fields.

Lettuce growers from regions in California are also looking at implications of having animal operations in the areas near food crops. The Food and Drug Administration recently posted a conclusion that animal operations were the likely cause behind romaine E. coli outbreaks in 2018-19.

The almond research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology,

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Posted in E.coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Research, Uncategorized