Effect of dehydrated storage on the survival of Francisella tularensis in infant formula

Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal or oropharyngeal tularemia in humans from ingestion of contaminated food or water. Despite the potential for accidental or intentional contamination of foods with F. tularensis, there are few studies on the long-term...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food microbiology 2009-12, Vol.26 (8), p.932-935
Main Authors: Day, J.B., Nguyen, H., Sharma, S.K., Al-Khaldi, S.F., Hao, Y.-Y.D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
bacterial contamination
Colony Count, Microbial
Consumer Product Safety
controlled atmosphere storage
Dehydration
dried foods
drying
food contamination
Food Contamination - analysis
Food Contamination - prevention & control
Food Microbiology
Food Packaging - methods
food pathogens
food preservation
Food Preservation - methods
food processing
food storage
Francisella tularensis
Francisella tularensis - growth & development
Humans
Infant
Infant Formula
infant formulas
Infant, Newborn
microbial growth
microbiological quality
nitrogen
Nitrogen - pharmacology
pathogen survival
powdered foods
risk assessment
storage conditions
storage time
Survival
Time Factors
tularemia
Tularemia - epidemiology
Tularemia - prevention & control
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Summary:Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal or oropharyngeal tularemia in humans from ingestion of contaminated food or water. Despite the potential for accidental or intentional contamination of foods with F. tularensis, there are few studies on the long-term survivability of this organism in food matrices. Infant formula has previously been implicated as a vehicle for the transmission of a variety of bacterial pathogens in infants. In this study, we investigated the survival of F. tularensis in dehydrated infant formula under various storage conditions. F. tularensis was stored for up to 12 weeks in dehydrated infant formula in an ambient air, dry or nitrogen atmosphere. Viable counts of fresh F. tularensis at 12 weeks in infant formula revealed a 4.15, 3.37 and 3.72-log decrease in ambient air, dry and nitrogen atmosphere, respectively. D-values were calculated (in weeks) as 3.99, 4.68 and 4.47 in air, dry and nitrogen atmosphere, respectively.
ISSN:0740-0020
1095-9998
DOI:10.1016/j.fm.2009.06.005