MICRO-ORGANISMS & FOOD POSTER

Temperature Effect C Micro-organism 91

Spores still resistant at this temperature

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAJOR PROBLEM MICRO-ORGANISMS IN THE FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES Group Description Gram positive coccus Origin Conditions for growth Foods affected Cooked meats, poultry, egg products, canned products, milk and cream Source of contamination Handling of food and equipment Principle symptoms Time of incubation 2-6 hours Duration of disease Temperature at which organism is destroyed 70C for 2 minutes, toxins are thermostable Spores are resistant to boiling 70C for 2 minutes 70C for 2 minutes

Tips for good hygienic practice * Keep moisture levels to a minimum

Staphylococcus aureus

Aerobic and Hands, hair, nose, animals, facultatively septic spots, boils. anaerobic Faeces, raw meat, poultry, soil Human and animal intestines, water borne Human and animal intestines Anaerobic and microaerophilic Aerobic and facultatively Anaerobic facultatively anaerobic

Nausea, vomiting

24-48 hours

82
Deterioration and destruction of bacteria takes place at these higher temperatures

Gram positive, Clostridium perfringens spore forming bacillus Salmonella species Escherichia coli Gram negative bacillus Gram negative bacillus

Cooked meats, poultry, stews, gravies, Handling of food and canned meats equipment, soil Any food of animal origin, seafood, egg, chocolate Meats and derivatives, cheese, milk products

Abdominal cramp, diarrhoea

8-24 hours

24-48 hours

77 74 Usual pasteurisation temperature 71 66

PATHOGENIC MICRO-ORGANISMS

Verocytotoxin (VTEC) producing Escherichia coli (e.g. 0157)

Gram negative bacillus

Aerobic and Faeces, raw meat, raw milk facultatively anaerobic

Meats, minced meats and derivatives, yogurt, raw milk

Acute gastroenteritis, fever, Live and slaughtered animals, diarrhoea, vomiting, 12-72 hours handling of Equipment Septicaemia handling of food and diarrhoea, dysentery 6-36 hours equipment Severe abdominal pain, watery diarrhoea with blood. Vomiting, little or no fever. Slaughtered animals, handling May cause Haemolytic 3-9 days of equipment Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) leading to kidney failure and anaemia External contamination of food Nausea, vomiting, paralysis 10-48 hours

2-5 days 1-7 days

* Keep food processing plant clean

6-8 days mortality rate 3-5% in cases with HUS

70C for 2 minutes

* Follow recognised cleaning schedules

60
Majority of vegetative bacteria destroyed

Clostridium botulinum

Gram positive spore Soil, water forming bacillus Gram negative bacillus Gram negative bacillus RNA virus double strand

Anaerobic

Canned or preserved foods

54

approximately 10 spores are resistant to days - however boiling mortality rate is high 3-14 days 70C for 2 minutes

Campylobacter species

49

Listeria species

43 Rotaviruses 38
Optimum growth temperature for pathogenic bacteria is 37C - human body temperature

Facultatively Faeces, live animals, water anaerobic and microaerophilic anaerobic and Ubiquitous facultatively anaerobic Faeces, polluted water Cell culture in specific host cells

Poultry, unpasteurised milk

Slaughtered animals

Fever, diarrhoea, abdominal cramp Heavy cold, diarrhoea, septicaemia Vomiting, diarrhoea, upper respiratory tract infections, may also cause fever nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, malaise, low grade fever

* Keep perishable products within the safe temperature zone

2-11 days

Fish, chicken, cheeses, raw foods

General environment handling of food, polluted water

1-3 days 1-7 days (2-4 days typical)

3-21 days

70C for 2 minutes

No specific food

2-3 days

80C for 2 minutes

* Practice effective personal hygiene

32

Foods should not be stored within this temperature for extended periods of time

Norwalk like viruses

believed to be RNA Faeces, polluted water virus single strand

Cell culture in specific host cells

Shellfish

Handling of food, polluted water

24-72 hours

24-48 hours

80C for 2 minutes

Hepatitis A

RNA virus single strand Gram positive bacillus spore forming Gram positive bacillus

Faeces, polluted water

Cell culture in specific host cells

Contaminated water, raw vegetables, shellfish

Handling of food (faecal-oral route), polluted water

Fever, malaise, nausea, abdominal pain, jaundice, Liver 15-50 days may be affected Gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhoea 1-6 hours

1 week to several months

90C for 5 minutes

* Don't give micro-organisms time to multiply

Bacillus cereus 21 Lactobacillus species SPOILAGE MICRO-ORGANISMS

Aerobic and Soil, dust, water, intestines facultatively Anaerobic Ubiquitous, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, widely found in nature Environment, normal flora of foods aerobic and some anaerobic Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic

Vegetables, meats, cereals, milk

General environmental

6-24 hours

Spores and resistant to boiling 70C for 2 minutes (some species can survive pasteurisation)

Dairy, grain, meat, fish and derived products, water sewage, beer, wine, fruit

Plant material, part of normal gut flora

Little clinical significance, pathogenicity is rare Little clinical significance, pathogenicity is rare. Causes post packing fermentation of food products Infections where moisture accumulates (e.g. Wounds, burns, urinary tract) Little clinical significance, pathogenicity is very rare. Produces pink pigments of meat, fish and poultry Little clinical significance, pathogenicity is very rare. Produces off flavours in fermented products

Zygosaccharomyces bailii

Yeast

Inadequately cleaned food High salt, low preservative, low water processing plant, air borne content squashes and mayonnaise dust

* Practice effective pest and foreign body control

70C for 2 minutes

Pseudomonas species

0
Bacterial growth is slowed considerably which makes these suitable refrigeration temperatures. Psychrophilic bacteria may predominate

Gram negative bacillus

Water, soil

Aerobic Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic

Meat, poultry, seafood

Water

70C for 2 minutes

Rhodotorula species

Yeast

Air, dust

Fresh & refrigerated meat, poultry, fish, seafood

Air borne dust

70C for 2 minutes

-18
Recommended temperatures for storage of frozen foods

* Store raw and cooked foods separately

Saccharomyces species -23

Yeast

Stored grains, air, dust, fruit and vegetables

Beer, bakery goods

Air borne dust

70C for 2 minutes

Time

20 min

40 min

1 hour

2 hours

3 hours

4 hours

5 hours

6 hours

7 hours

Bacteria

64

512

4,096

32,768

262,144

2,097,152