Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Survival and metabolic activity of luxâ??marked Escherichia coli O157:H7 in different types of milk

International Conference on Food Safety and Regulatory Measures

August 17-19, 2015 Birmingham, UK

Rabya A Lahmer1*, Nawal A Alhelfi2, Davey L Jones3 and A Prysor Williams3

1Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli, Libya 2Department of Food Science, Agriculture College, University of Basra, Basra, Iraq 3School of Environment, Natural Resources & Geography, College of Natural Sciences,

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a potentially lethal pathogen which has been responsible for several outbreaks of milkâ??borne illness in recent years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the survival and metabolic activity (indexed by bioluminescence) of a chromosomally luxâ??marked strain of E. coli O157:H7 in raw, pasteurized and micro filtered pasteurized milk at 4 and 20°C for up to 14 d. Results showed that the population of E. coli O157:H7 and its metabolic activity decreased in all samples during storage at 4°C, with no significant differences in numbers observed between the different milk types; but metabolic activity was significantly higher (P<0·05) in the micro filtered pasteurized milk than that in raw milk. At 20°C, E. coli O157: H7 counts and cell activity peaked at day 2, and then declined progressively. At 20°C, survival and metabolic activity were significantly lower in raw milk compared with pasteurized milk. We conclude that storage temperature is more important in regulating the survival of E. coli O157 in contaminated milk than its origin/preâ??treatment conditions.

Biography :

Email: rabyalahmer@yahoo.co.uk