Ionizing radiations are not presently used for sterilizing foods because undesirable flavor changes and other adverse effects often result at the required dosage levels. Morgani and Reed (1954) have showin that preliminary
Before gamma irradiation can be evaluated as a technique for preserving food in tin cans, it is necessary that the amount of radiation required for sterilization be known. Although information is available concerning the sensitivity of bacterial spores in buffers (Proctor and Goldblith, 1951; Lawrence et al., 1953), such conditions are quite different from those existing in tin cans. It therefore seemed desirable to study the effectiveness of gamma radiation for killing the spores of anaerobic, food-spoilage bacteria that were inoculated into meat packed in No. 2 tin cans; data presented here correlate the quantity of gamma radiation from cobalt-60 required to produce sterility with the numbers of such spores present in the meat. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria were used in this study. Putrefactive anaerobe no. 3679 came from the National Canner's Association Research Laboratory, while Clostridium botulinum, strains 62A and 213B, were furnished by the Hooper Foundation for Medical Research at the University of California. Spore suspensions were prepared according to procedures described by Reed et al. (1951); putrefactive anaerobe no. 3679 was grown in pork infusion broth, but Difco bacto-casitone was substituted for casein digest in the medium, specified by these workers, for clostridia. Stock spore suspensions were suspended in sterile distilled water and stored at 4 C. Samples of these suspensions were tested for heat resistance by C. W. Bohrer of the National Canner's Association
Kindler et al. (1956) reported that a strain of Clostridium parabotulinum type A synthesized large quantities of toxin in a medium where cell multiplication was inhibited by high concentrations of penicillin. This interpretation of synthesis de novo of protein was based on the observations that the toxicity of the extracellular fluids increased in the absence of cell multiplication. It is a well established fact that growth of Clostridium botulinum reaches a maximum and
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