Wheat flour has been associated with outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic (EHEC), but little is known on EHEC's survival during storage and thermal processing. The objective of this study was to determine long-term viability and thermal inactivation kinetics of EHEC serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O157. Wheat flour samples were inoculated with a cocktail of five strains of a single serogroup and stored at 23 and 35°C. Inoculated samples were heated at 55, 60, 65, and 70°C. Viability was determined by plate counting. Decimal reduction time () and first decimal reduction time (δ) values were calculated with log-linear and Weibull models, respectively. At 23°C, EHEC counts declined gradually for 84 days and samples tested positive from 84 to 280 days. The thermal resistance ( and δ) values ranged from 7.5 to 8.2 and 3.1 to 5.3 days, respectively, but there were no significant differences among serogroups ( ≤ 0.05). At 35°C, no EHEC was quantifiable by day 7 and no positive samples were detected after 49 days. Heating at 55 and 65°C resulted in δ-value ranges of 15.6 to 39.7 min and 3.0 to 3.9 min, respectively, with no significant difference among serogroups either. Z values were 12.6, 6.7, 10.2, and 13.4°C for O26, O103, O111, and O157, respectively. Thermal death kinetics of EHEC in flour were better described using the Weibull model. Survival and inactivation rates of four serogroups were remarkably similar. These findings indicated that all EHEC serovars tested remained viable for at least 9 months at room temperature and survived for up to 60 min at 70°C in wheat flour. Enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) and have recently caused several gastroenteritis outbreaks and recalls of wheat flour. Because EHEC can cause illness with very low doses and there is very scarce information regarding their ability to survive storage and heating in flour, the present study was undertaken to assess the long-term survival of EHEC serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O157 in flour. These findings are relevant, as we report that EHEC can survive for more than 9 months in wheat flour during storage. In addition, results obtained suggest that thermal inactivation at 65°C for 30 min or 2 months of storage at 35°C may be feasible strategies to mitigate the risk of most EHEC serovars in wheat flour.

Salmonella and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are of serious concern in wheat flour and its related products but little is known on their survival and thermal death kinetics. This study was undertaken to determine their long-term viability and thermal inactivation kinetics in flour. Inoculation was performed using mixtures of EHEC serogroups O45, O121, O145 and Salmonella followed by storage at room temperature (23°C) or 35°C (for Salmonella ). Plate counting on tryptic soy agar (TSA) and enrichment were used to assess long-term survival. For thermal studies, wheat flour samples were heated at 55, 60, 65, and 70°C and cell counts of EHEC and Salmonella were determined by plating. The δ-values were calculated using the Weibull model. At room temperature, EHEC serovars and Salmonella were quantifiable for 84 and 112 days, and were detectable for the duration of the experiment after 168 and 365 days, respectively. The δ-values were 2.0, 5.54, and 9.3 days, for EHEC O121, O45, and O145, respectively, and 9.7 days for Salmonella . However, the only significant difference among all values was the δ-value for Salmonella and serogroup O121 ( p ≤ 0.05). At 35°C, Salmonella counts declined to unquantifiable levels after a week and were not detected upon enrichment after 98 days. Heat treatment of inoculated wheat flour at 55, 60, 65, and 70°C resulted in δ-value ranges of 20.0–42.9, 4.9–10.0, 2.4–3.2, and 0.2–1.6 min, respectively, for EHEC. The δ-values for Salmonella at those temperatures were 152.2, 40.8, 17.9, and 17.4 min, respectively. The δ-values obtained for Salmonella at each temperature were significantly longer than for EHEC ( p ≤ 0.05). Weibull model was a good fit to describe the thermal death kinetics of Salmonella and EHEC O45, O121 and O145 in wheat flour. HIGHLIGHTS EHEC and Salmonella can survive for extended periods of time in wheat flour. Long-term storage inactivation curves of EHEC and Salmonella were similar. EHEC was more sensitive to heat than Salmonella. Weibull model was a good fit to describe thermal death kinetics of EHEC and Salmonella. Flour storage at 35°C may be a feasible method for microbial reduction.