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GROWTH OF Staphylococcus aureus AND PRODUCTION OF ENTEROTOXINS IN PEPPERONI
Author(s) -
TATINI S. R.,
LEE R. Y.,
McCALL W. A.,
HILL W. M.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1976.tb00588.x
Subject(s) - staphylococcus aureus , enterotoxin , plate count , food science , population , agar , chemistry , medicine , biology , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , environmental health , escherichia coli , gene
Growth of enterotoxigenic S. aureus and production of enterotoxins (A and D) during curing, smoking and drying of pepperoni were evaluated by inoculating raw ingredients with 10 4 , 10 5 , or 10 6 S. aureus/g and processing by two different approved (USDA) methods. The product was smoked for 1 hr and heated to 40°C within 5 hr in method I and smoked for 1 hr followed by heating to 49–50°C within 11 hr in method III. The pepperoni sticks were then dried at 10–12°C for 4–5 wk. Total viable plate count (plate count agar), plate count on Rogosa's SL medium (RSL) and S aureus count on Baird‐Parker medium (BP) were determined. The initial total plate count varied between 3 × 10 5 and 3 × 10 7 and reached about 10 6 – 10 7 during processing or drying. Though there was an increase of about 2–4 log in the RSL of the product during smoking and/or drying there was no substantial change in pH (6.0–6.2 initial and 5.9–6.2 final). Under these conditions, there was little or no increase in S. aureus (BP) count during curing, smoking or drying of pepperoni. Smoking of pepperoni contributed substantially to the inhibition of S. aureus growth because unsmoked product, under same conditions, showed a 1–2 log increase in S aureus with method III. Even though S. aureus reached a population of 4 × 10 7 /g in pepperoni processed without smoking by method III, detectable amounts of enterotoxins were not present in 100g. Pepperoni processed with smoking by either method is not likely to be a health hazard from staphylococcal enterotoxins.