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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Microbial and Chemical Food Safety » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390048
Research Project: Development and Validation of Predictive Models and Pathogen Modeling Programs; and Data Acquisition for International Microbial Databases

Location: Microbial and Chemical Food Safety

Title: Predictive model for growth of Clostridium botulinum from spores at temperatures applicable to cooling of cooked ground pork

Author
item Juneja, Vijay
item SIDHU, GAGANPREET - University Of Georgia
item XU, XINRAN - University Of Georgia
item Osoria, Marangeli
item GLASS, KATHLEEN - University Of Wisconsin
item SCHILL, KRISTIN - University Of Wisconsin
item GOLDEN, MAX - University Of Wisconsin
item SCHAFFNER, DONALD - Rutgers University
item KUMAR, GOVINDARAJ - University Of Georgia
item SUBASH, SHRESTHA - Cargill, Incorporated
item SINGH, MANPREET - University Of Georgia
item MISHRA, ABHINAV - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/21/2022
Publication Date: 2/25/2022
Citation: Juneja, V.K., Sidhu, G., Xu, X., Osoria, M., Glass, K.A., Schill, K.M., Golden, M., Schaffner, D.W., Kumar, G.D., Subash, S., Singh, M., Mishra, A. 2022. Predictive model for growth of Clostridium botulinum from spores at temperatures applicable to cooling of cooked ground pork. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies. 77:102960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2022.102960.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2022.102960

Interpretive Summary: The disease, botulism, caused by the Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin is a serious public health concern. We investigated the growth of this pathogen in ground pork and used a mathematical model to estimate growth in pork. A validated dynamic model was developed to estimate the growth at temperatures relevant to food processing operations. The model will serve as an excellent tool for food industry and regulatory agencies to evaluate risk of C. botulinum growth in pork during processing, transportation, distribution and storage.

Technical Abstract: Cooling deviations and temperature abuse are two main reasons leading to the risk of Clostridium botulinum outgrowth in cooked pork. The aim of this study was to develop a model that can be used to estimate the growth of C. botulinum from spores in cooked pork at temperatures applicable to the cooling of cooked pork in processing facilities and food establishments. A cocktail of five strains of proteolytic C. botulinum type A and five strains of proteolytic C. botulinum type B were used to inoculate pork to a final spore concentration of approximately 2 log CFU/g and cooked to 71C to heat shock the spores and kill vegetative microbes. The growth of C. botulinum was established at constant storage temperatures from 10 to 46C. The growth of C. botulinum was also determined under dynamic temperature conditions in which the cooling was set from 54.4 to 4.4C or 7.2C in mono- or biphasic cooling profiles, respectively. The Baranyi primary model was used to estimate growth parameters and the modified Ratkowsky secondary model was used to fit growth rates with respect to temperature. The primary models fit the growth data well (R2 values ranging from 0.7653 to 0.9995). The R2 and root mean square error (RMSE) of the modified Ratkowsky secondary model were 0.9653and 0.0687, respectively. All 11 prediction error values computed were within the limit of acceptable prediction zone (-1.0 to 0.5) suggesting a good fit of the model. The predictive model can provide information for the safety of cooked pork subjected to longer cooling times or for customized process schedule development as cooling of larger diameter products presents a processing challenge in the meat process operations.