Sources and risk factors for contamination, survival, persistence, and heat resistance of Salmonella in low-moisture foods are reviewed. Processed products such as peanut butter, infant formula, chocolate, cereal products, and dried milk are characteristically low-water-activity foods and do not support growth of vegetative pathogens such as Salmonella. Significant food safety risk might occur when contamination takes place after a lethal processing step. Salmonella cross-contamination in low-moisture foods has been traced to factors such as poor sanitation practices, poor equipment design, and poor ingredient control. It is well recognized that Salmonella can survive for long periods in low-moisture food products. Although some die-off occurs in low-moisture foods during storage, the degree of reduction depends on factors such as storage temperature and product formulation. The heat resistance of Salmonella is affected by many factors, mostly by strain and serotypes tested, previous growth and storage conditions, the physical and chemical food composition, test media, and the media used to recover heat-damaged cells. Salmonella heat resistance generally increases with reducing moisture. Care must be taken when applying published D- and z-values to a specific food process. The product composition and heating medium and conditions should not be significantly different from the product and process parameters used by the processors.

Lean beef surfaces were inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes and then sanitized with fumaric, acetic, or lactic acid alone and in combined solutions of those acids at 55°C for 5 s. The initial inoculum level was 8.62 log CFU/cm2 and 5.13 log CFU/cm2 for L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7, respectively. Fumaric acid at a concentration of 1% was the most effective acid in reducing the populations of L. monocytogenes by up to 1 log unit and E. coli O157:H7 by up to 1.3 log units when compared with acetic or lactic acids. The rank order of acids tested against the growth of L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 was fumaric acid followed by lactic and acetic acids. Fumaric acid at concentrations of 1.0% and 1.5% was more effective than any of the combined solutions of acids.

Long-term survival of heat-stressed Salmonella Tennessee, Salmonella Typhimurium DT104, and Enterococcus faecium was evaluated in four model peanut paste formulations with a combination of two water activity (aw) levels (0.3 and 0.6) and two fat levels (47 and 56%) over 12 months at 20 ± 1°C. Prior to storage, the inoculated peanut paste formulations were heat treated at 75°C for up to 50 min to obtain an approximately 1.0-log reduction of each organism. The cell population of each organism in each formulation was monitored with tryptic soy agar plate counts, immediately after heat treatment, at 2 weeks for the first month, and then monthly for up to 1 year. The log reductions (log CFU per gram) following 12 months of storage were between 1.3 and 2.4 for Salmonella Tennessee, 1.8 and 2.8 for Salmonella Typhimurium, and 1.1 and 2.1 for E. faecium in four types of model peanut paste formulations. Enhanced survivability was observed in pastes with lower aw for all organisms, compared with those with higher aw (P < 0.05). In contrast, the effect of fat level (47 and 56%) on survival of all organisms was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Whereas survivability of Salmonella Tennessee and Typhimurium DT104 did not differ significantly (P > 0.05), E. faecium demonstrated higher survivability than Salmonella (P < 0.05). Salmonella survived in the model peanut pastes well over 12 months, which is longer than the expected shelf life for peanut butter products. The information from this study can be used to design safer food processing and food safety plans for peanut butter processing.

The purpose of this article is to review and discuss the factors affecting high pressure processing (HPP) in juices and beverages. The inactivation of microorganisms by HPP depends on numerous factors, including the magnitude of the pressure and the holding time, process temperature, compression and decompression rates, the microbiota, and the intrinsic properties of juices and beverages. Although extensive HPP research has been performed to characterize many of these factors, a number of issues, such as the rates of compression and decompression, still remain unresolved and need further investigation. In addition, some published results are conflicting and do not provide enough evidence to develop juice HPP “safe-harbor” parameters to achieve a minimum 5-log reduction of the pertinent microorganism and produce safe fruit juices and beverages. HIGHLIGHTS

A study was conducted to determine the effects of three commercially available disinfectants on the reduction of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores in single-strength apple juice applied to stainless steel surfaces. Apple juice was inoculated with A. acidoterrestris spores, spread onto the surface of stainless steel chips (SSC), dried to obtain spore concentrations of approximately 10(4) CFU/cm2, and treated with disinfectants at temperatures ranging from 40 to 90 degrees C. The concentrations of disinfectants were 200, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 ppm of total chlorine for Clorox (CL) (sodium hypochlorite); 50, 100, and 200 ppm of total chlorine for Carnebon 200 (stabilized chlorine dioxide); and 1,500, 2,000, and 2,600 ppm for Vortexx (VOR) (hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, and octanoic acid). For all temperatures tested, VOR at 2,600 ppm (90 degrees C) and CL at 2,000 ppm (90 degrees C) were the most inhibitory against A. acidoterrestris spores, resulting in 2.55- and 2.32-log CFU/cm2 reductions, respectively, after 2 min. All disinfectants and conditions tested resulted in the inactivation of A. acidoterrestris spores, with a maximum reduction of > 2 log CFU/cm2. Results from this study indicate that A. acidoterrestris spores, in single-strength apple juice, may be effectively reduced on stainless steel surface by VOR and CL, which may have practical applications in the juice industry.

The effects of fumaric and lactic acid on the total numbers of aerobic, psychrotrophic, and coliform bacteria on vacuum-packaged ground beef patties at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days of storage at 4°C were studied. Fumaric acid treatments resulted in greater reductions in microbial growth than lactic acid treatments. When 5.0% fumaric acid was used, the lag phase was prolonged and microbial growth was reduced (P &lt; 0.05), with total aerobic, psychotrotrophic, and coliform populations reaching net maximum growths of only 1.46, 1.44, and 0.98 log units, respectively, after storage at 4°C for 10 days. Increasing the acid concentrations significantly decreased the growth of all microorganisms. The 5.0% lactic acid was the most inhibitory against coliforms, resulting in a 3.88-1og unit reduction after 10 days of storage.

Cylindrical samples of beef semitendinosus muscle were dipped into an inoculum of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Salmonella typhimurium. After air drying for 10 min, samples were sanitized by dipping in fumaric acid (1.0 or 1.5%), lactic acid (1%) or acetic acid (1.0%) solutions for 15 or 30 s at 55C. The 1.5% fumaric acid was most inhibitory against L. monocytogenes, resulting in inactivation of this pathogen after 7 days of storage. Samples treated with 1.0% and 1.5% fumaric acid solutions for 30 sec gave 2.54 and 1.51 log10 reductions, respectively, in S. typhimurium population compared to nontreated samples. The 1.5% fumaric acid treatments for 30 s exerted the maximum inhibition of E. coli O157:7. Acetic and lactic acid treatments were significantly less effective in reducing populations of the tested pathogens than fumaric acid treatments. As the sanitizing time in acid solutions increased from 15 to 30 s, the numbers of surviving organisms were reduced significantly.

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