Radiation Sterilization of Prototype Military Foods

Abstract

Ten lots of diced cured ham, packed in cans, were inoculated with approximately 10 6 Clostridium botulinum spores per can. Each lot was seeded with a different strain (five type A and five type B strains). All cans were irradiated to various dose levels with Co 60 . Evidence provided by swelling, toxicity, and recoverable C. botulinum with 6,350 cans demonstrated that: (i) 4.5 Mrad was more than adequate as a sterilization dose; (ii) the minimal experimental sterilizing dose (ESD) based on nonswollen nontoxic endpoints was 2.0 < ESD ≤ 2.5 Mrad, and based on non-spoiled sterile cans was 3.0 < ESD ≤ 3.5 Mrad (the latter was supported by the computed theoretical 12 D dose); (iii) D values calculated from botulinal survival data indicated that, as a group, the type A strains were more radioresistant than type B strains; strains 12885A and 41B, with respective D values of 0.242 and 0.175, represented the most resistant of each type; (iv) swollen cans did not always contain toxin, nor were toxic cans always swollen; (v) viable C. botulinum can exist for 6 months at 30 C without producing visible or toxic spoilage at doses of 3.0 Mrad and lower, including, in some instances, 0.0 Mrad; and (vi) a phenomenon similar to heat activation of spores occurred at sublethal radiation doses.