Evaluating the fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. on cucumbers.
Food Microbiol
; 99: 103830, 2021 Oct.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34119115
ABSTRACT
The occurrence of various foodborne disease outbreaks linked to the consumption of cucumbers worldwide in the last years raised concerns regarding the survival ability of foodborne pathogens on this food matrix. This work aimed at evaluating and quantifying the survival of Escherichia coli O157H7 and Salmonella spp. on cucumber surfaces. Cucumbers were inoculated with a 5-strain cocktail of each microorganism and kept at 25 °C. The survival ability of two green fluorescent protein (GFP) labelled Salmonella strains inoculated individually on cucumbers was also evaluated. The inoculated areas were swabbed at different time intervals (maximum of 72 h) and cells were enumerated by plate count method (log CFU/cm2). The population of both pathogens decreased significantly on cucumber surfaces over time. E. coli O157H7 could only be recovered up to 8 h while Salmonella spp. could be detected up to 24 h. The GFP-labelled Salmonella strains showed similar behaviour on cucumbers compared to the evaluated Salmonella cocktail. Survival kinetic parameters were estimated by fitting the Weibull model to the survival data. The data obtained in this study indicate that despite of the rapid decrease on concentrations of both pathogens evaluated on cucumbers surfaces, strategies to avoid their contamination during the supply chain as well as proper cleaning and disinfection protocols must be put forward to mitigate both E. coli O57H7 and Salmonella on cucumbers and therefore, to decrease the exposure of consumers to microbial hazards and to avoid cross-contamination events during distribution, retail and in domestic environments.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Contexto en salud:
3_ND
Problema de salud:
3_neglected_diseases
/
3_zoonosis
Asunto principal:
Salmonella
/
Cucumis sativus
/
Escherichia coli O157
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Food Microbiol
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIAS DA NUTRICAO
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article