| ABSTRACT |
|---|
Wheat flour has been implicated in several outbreaks of foodborne illness in recent years, yet little information is available regarding microbial pathogens in wheat and wheat flour. Information about microbial pathogens in wheat is needed to develop effective methods to prevent foodborne illnesses caused by wheat products. From 2012 to 2014, we conducted a baseline study to determine the prevalence and levels of pathogens in wheat samples taken before milling. A total of 5,176 wheat samples were tested for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), Salmonella spp., Listeria spp., and L. monocytogenes. Positive samples were assayed for most probable numbers (MPNs), and isolates were fingerprinted by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The rate of detection of each pathogen tested was as follows: Salmonella was in 1.23% of the samples (average level of 0.110 MPN/g), EHECs occurred in 0.44% of the samples (0.039 MPN/g), and Listeria spp. occurred in 0.08% of samples (0.020 MPN/g), but L. monocytogenes was not detected. The PFGE assessment found a high diversity for all organisms. All EHEC PFGE patterns (22 of 22) were unique, and 39 of 47 Salmonella patterns (83%) were unique. These results indicate a diverse background of naturally occurring organisms. These findings suggest that the microbial contamination is coming from diverse sources and provide no evidence in support of a specific pathogen load. Altogether, our surveillance study shows that contamination of wheat with pathogens is clearly evident and poses a foodborne illness risk.
| HIGHLIGHTS |
|---|
-
Prevalence of Salmonella and E. coli in raw wheat emphasizes the need to cook wheat products.
-
3,891 grain samples were tested for E. coli and Salmonella; 1,285 were tested for Listeria.
-
Of wheat berries sampled, 0.44% were positive for E. coli and 1.23% were positive for Salmonella.
-
Salmonella diversity was high, indicating various animal sources that are difficult to prevent.
-
Cooking wheat products is the best preventative measure against foodborne illness from wheat.
