Scientific Publications
Quantification of non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum spore loads in food materials
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82, 1675-1685
We have produced data and developed analysis to describe belief concerning the concentration of spores of non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum in materials that are used during the manufacture of minimally processed chilled foods in the UK. Food materials are categorized into homogenous groups which include meat, fish, shellfish, cereals, fresh plant material, dairy liquid, dairy non-liquid, mushroom & fungi and dried herbs & spices. Beliefs are constructed in a Bayesian framework and represent a combination of information from a literature survey of spore loads, from positive control experiments that establish a detection limit and from dedicated microbiological tests for real food materials. Detection of non-proteolytic C. botulinum employed an optimized protocol that combines selective enrichment culture with multiplex PCR and the majority of tests on food materials were negative. Posterior belief about spore loads centres on a range of concentration 1-10 spores kg-1. Posterior beliefs for larger spore loads were most significant for dried herbs & spices and were most sensitive to the detailed results from control experiments. Beliefs about spore loads are represented in a convenient form that can be used for numerical analysis and risk assessments.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82, 1675-1685
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