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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 #424660
Research Project: Advanced Methods for Predictive Modeling of Bacterial Growth and Survival in Foods

Location: Microbial and Chemical Food Safety

Title: Effect of sodium nitrite, sodium chloride, sodium erythorbate, and sodium tripolyphosphate on nontoxigenic Clostridium botulinum LNT01 and C. sporogenes in growth medium and cooked cured beef – critical control surface

Author
item ADMAD, NURUL - Orise Fellow
item Huang, Lihan
item Hwang, Cheng An

Submitted to: Food Research International
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/11/2025
Publication Date: 5/13/2025
Citation: Admad, N., Huang, L., Hwang, C. 2025. Effect of sodium nitrite, sodium chloride, sodium erythorbate, and sodium tripolyphosphate on nontoxigenic Clostridium botulinum LNT01 and C. sporogenes in growth medium and cooked cured beef – critical control surface. Food Research International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2025.116624.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2025.116624

Interpretive Summary: Clostridium botulinum is a serious foodborne pathogen that may complicate the safety of cooked, cured meat products. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of salt, sodium nitrite, sodium erythorbate, and sodium tripolyphosphate on the growth probability of C. botulinum in a solid growth medium under the optimum temperature condition and then develop a critical control surface (CSS) that may inhibit this pathogen in cooked, cured beef. The results of this study may help the food industry to use CSS to formulate meat products that may prevent the growth of C. botulinum during processing, storage, and distribution, thus enhancing public food safety.

Technical Abstract: Clostridium botulinum is a serious foodborne pathogen that can complicate the safety of cooked meats. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl, 1 – 3%), sodium nitrite (NaNO2, 100 – 200 ppm), sodium erythorbate (SE, 0 – 547 ppm), and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP, 0 – 0.5%), 27 treatments in total, on the spores of non-toxigenic C. botulinum LNT01 and C. sporogenes PA 3679 in fortified Shahidi Ferguson Perfringens (SFP) agar after simulated curing and cooking and then storage at 37°C for 48 h in 96-well multiplate. Each well was observed optically to examine the growth or no-growth of each microorganism. Logistic regression models were developed from optical observations. The models were used to define critical control surfaces (CSS), on which no-growth should occur, and validated with cooked cured ground beef under 4 selected conditions near CSS. STPP, previously found very effective in controlling the growth of C. perfringens from spores in SFP agar and cooked beef, was not found to be effective in controlling either C. botulinum LNT01 and C. sporogenes PA 3679 in fortified SFP agar. The results of CSS showed that C. sporogenes PA 3679 was more difficult to control than C. botulinum LNT01. The validation of the CSS for C. botulinum LNT01 under 4 selected conditions showed an accuracy of 89.8%. The results of this study suggested that the CSS could be used to properly formulate cured meat products to reduce the risk of foodborne botulism.