1. What factors are affecting microbial population in foods? Give illustration!

 Factors
 Intrinsic factor (the nature of food such as nutrition contents, pH of food, aw of
food, natural antimicrobial compounds, etc.)
 Extrinsic factor (environment such as temperature, humidity, etc.)
 Implicit factor (microbe type)
 Processing factor

 Illustrations
 High sugar content makes yeast population to be dominant in food.
 Food that has natural contaminant generally has the biggest microbial population.
 Escherichia coli adapts easily in any condition. This makes Escherichia coli can be
dominant in contaminated food.
 Most pathogen grow slowly or cannot grow below pH 4,6. However C. botulinum
was able to produce toxin as low as pH 4.2
 There are some optimum pHs for microbes. For example, pH for fungi to grow
optimally is around 1-11, and for yeast is around 1-5-8,5.
 Fruits that have pH around 1-7,5 usually rot because of fungi and yeast.
 Vegetables that have pH higher than 5 usually spoiled by bacteria.
 Processing factor including heat and cold extreme treatment can lead to microbe
population growth.

2. How do contamination of microbes occurs in foods ? Give Illustration

Microbial contamination can enter the food chain at several levels: (1) the production
environment, represented by the farm, orchard, or fishery; (2) the processing environment,
represented by the slaughterhouse, cannery, or packing plant; (3) the preparation environment,
either in a kitchen or food preparation service.

Chemical contaminants occurs when food comes into contact with chemicals and can lead to
chemical food poisoning.. Some common sources of chemical contamination can include :
Kitchen cleaning agents ,Unwashed fruits and vegetables ,Food containers made from non-safe
plastics, Pest control products: Chemicals used in equipment maintenance.

Cross-contamination is the accidental transfer of contaminants from one surface or substance

to another, usually as a result of improper handling procedures. In a food setting, the term refers
to the transfer of contaminants from a surface, object or person to food. Cross-contamination
usually refers to biological contamination but can also be physical or chemical.

Microorganisms including pathogens can be introduced to the crop or food animals during
primary production (pre-harvest or pre-slaughter stages) contamination events often start with
problems in production, that is, while growing the plants that are harvested or raising food
animals. Plant foods can get contaminated with microorganisms, pathogens inclusive through
water used for irrigation and application of pesticides, manure applied as fertilizer, migratory
or feral animals and practices of workers in the field. At harvest, plant produce get
contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms through several mechanisms one of which is
through the harvesting equipment of workers. Microorganisms including pathogens can build
up in improperly washed and sanitized harvesting equipment such as knives, chippers and
containers including trailers, boxes, bins and truck beds, and from where pathogens can spread
from a single contaminated commodity to an entire content.

At Pre-Slaughter and Slaughter Contamination, for meat and poultry products, what happens
in farms where food animals are raised, in feed lots, during transport and lairage before
slaughter as well as during slaughter and further processing can have a major effect on the
microorganisms that contaminate food after slaughter and on human health. Other ways poultry
flocks may be infected are through drinking water, rodents, insects, dogs, cats and human
stools, footwear, work cloths. Bacteria and other microbial pathogens in animals or from
humans or farm equipment can contaminate the environment in which animals are raised,
where they roam and where they are kept while awaiting slaughter

Post-Harvest/Slaughter Contamination, food preparation or processing, whether in the home,

at a restaurant or quick service, other types of food service quality (such as cafeteria, nursing
home or hospital) or food companies or industries can introduce pathogens into a product if not
done properly (Karl, 2001). This is possible through a process of cross-contamination defined
as the physical movement or transfer of harmful microorganisms or microbial toxins from one
food to another either directly (food to food) or indirectly (equipment/utensils or food contact
surfaces to food and people to food). Pathogenic microorganisms can be found more or less
everywhere and consequently may be found in raw foods, meant or poultry to be cooked prior
to consumption

Illustration

Microbial contamination of dairy products is often through the release of bacteria from biofilms
developing on almost any manufacturing food contact plant surface. The microbial
composition varies depending upon the product being manufactured and the environmental
conditions in different parts of the dairy manufacturing plant. Microbial contamination of dairy
products limits the value of products. Controlling biofilms through frequent cleaning costs
the dairy industry by limiting the amount of product that can be manufactured.

3. What are the aims of microbiology assessment in foods ? Give illustration

Microorganisms in foods capable of producing food poisoning it can also deteriorate the quality
and shelf life of foods. So, microbiological assessment of foods is useful particularly to
establish safety, to secure adequate microbiologi quality and for standardizatiomicroorganisms
in foods capable of producing food poisoning it can also deteriorate the quality and shelf life
of foods. So, microbiological assessment of foods is usefull particularly to establish safety, to
secure adequate microbiologi quality and for standardization of food products with represent
and summarise rates and levels of contamination,the illustration is the quality control for
making yakult. a sample is taken from each batch to see if the microbe in the milk is the right
kind and the right population ammount.n of food products.

4. Describe in comprehensive way quantitative detection methods of microbes in foods

with illustration.

Quantitative methods are designed to enumerate or estimate directly or indirectly the

microbial load in a test material. Quantitative methods used to enumerate a specific group of
microbes among the total microbial population normally present in a food.
There are some quantitative methods:
 Plate Count
Plate count is a determination of the degree of bacterial contamination of a sample (as
of milk or semen) made by enumeration after a period of incubation of the colonies
appearing in a plate that has been inoculated with a suitable dilution of the sample

 Most Probable Number

Most Probable Number (MPN) is a method used to estimate the concentration of viable
microorganisms in a sample by means of replicate liquid broth growth in ten-fold
dilutions. It is commonly used in estimating microbial populations in soils, waters,
agricultural products and is particularly useful with samples that contain particulate
material that interferes with plate count enumeration methods.

 Dye Reduction Test

This method is generally used to determine the microbiological quality of raw milk. It
is assumed that the rate of reduction during incubation of a specific concentration of the
dye added to a food is directly proportional to the initial microbial load in the food.
Usually this test use methylene blue and resazurin dye.

Methylene blue
 Resazurin

5. Qualitative detection methods.

Determine whether a representative amount (a sample) of food or a certain number of samples

in a batch of food contain a specific microbial species among the total microbial population.
This method also used to detect the possible presence of certain foodborne pathogens,
especially those capable of causing high fatality rates among consumers.

Methods:
1. Isolation of Pathogens.
The main objective is to determine whether a sample contains viable cells or spores of
specific pathogens. Foods are tested for several pathogens (Salmonella, L. monocytogenes,
Vibrio cholerae, and Shigella sp.) by the specific isolation procedure. For other pathogens
(Campylobacter jejuni) isolation procedures are not generally used, instead enumeration
procedurs are used.

Isolation procedure contains several steps:

a. Nonselective pre-enrichment.
b. Selective enrichment
c. Testing on agar medium containing selective and differential agents.

The food sample is first pre-enriched in a nonselective broth and incubated for the
injured cells to repair, then multiply in order to reach moderately high number. Then
transferred from the pre-enrichment broth to a selective enrichment broth and incubated.
During incubation, the specific pathogen and closely related microorganisms will
selectively grow to a high number, whereas many of the associated microorganisms won't
grow.
 A small amount of the enrichment broth is streaked on the surface of a pre-poured selective-
differential agar medium plate, which then incubated for specified time for the colonies to
develop. The presence of a specific pathogen can be tentatively established from the colony
characteristics. This is generally considered a presumptive test. For confirmation, the cells
from characteristic colonies are purified and examined for biochemical reaction profiles and
serological reaction against specific antibody. Isolation of a pathogen using the conventional
methods can take 10-12 days, depending on a particular species.

6. What does control of microbes mean? How to do it?

 Control of microbes means to inhibit or prevent growth of microorganisms. This
control affected in 2 basic ways : Killing microorganism, inhibiting the growth oof
microbes. Control of microorganism is esential in order to prevent the transmission of
disease & infecion, stop the ecomposition & spoilage, prevent unwanted microbias
contaminations.
 Control of growth usually involves the use physical/chemical agents which either
kill/prevent the growth to microorganism. Agents which kill is bacteridal and
bacteriastatic refers to inhibity the growth of bacteria cells
7. Describe methods to control the microbes !

Heating is one of the most common and oldest form of micorobial control. Heat can kill
microbes by altering their membranes and denaturing protein. Different microorganisms will
respond differently to high temperature, with some being more heat tolerant. Boiling is one of
the oldest methods of moist heat control of microbes, and it is quite effective at kiling
vegetative cells, but less effective at killing some endospores. Autoclve rely on moist-heat
sterilization. They are used to raise temperature. They are used to raise temperature above the
boiling point of water too sterilize items fro vegetative cells, viruses, and especially
endospores.

Pasteurization is a form of microbial conrol for foor that uses heat but does not render
the food sterile. It kills pathogens and reduces the number of spoilge-causing microbes while
maintaining food quality. Just as high temperature are effective for controlling microbial
growth, exposing microbes to lo temperature can also control microbes. Low temperature slows
the growth of microbes by inhibiting their metabolism. Freezing below -2 may stop microbial
growth and even kill susceptble organisms. Exposure to high pressure kills many microbes.
High pressure cooking is used to kill bacteria, yeast, molds, parasites, and viruses and
maintaining food quality and extending shelf life. The application of high pressure is sufficient
to kill vegetative cells by protein denaturation, but endospores might survive.

8. How to control food spoilage microbes ? Give some illustrations

Microbial spoilage is the major cause of food spoilage. Since so much depends on the initial
number of bacteria, temperatures and handling practices, a specific shelf life for a category of
food products is difficult to determine.

Food spoilage can be controlled with controlling its environment. If food spoilage bacteria
contaminate a food with a suitable environment and also good content nutrients in the food, the
bacteria will grow so fast. Facteors such as temperature,pH, O2, and water activities are
important in the growth of a bacteria. Controlling one of the factor can decrease the growth so
that the food is safe to eat. Microbial spoilage is the major cause of food spoilage. It occurs as
a result of contamination of food by microorganisms, provision of a suitable environment for
their growth, and degradation of the foodstuffs.
The micro-organism can grow
 At temperatures between -7 to around 70°C
 Over a pH range from 0 to 11
 In the presence or absence of oxygen
 At water activities above about 0.6
Vacuum packaging, over-rapped or tray packaging, freezing, drying, canning of food
products, use of antioxidants etc. are the various techniques to preserve the foods to retard the
spoilage.

Illustration : a pasteurized milk had to be kept refrigerated because the process only remove
pathogenic microbe/spoilage microbe. At room temperature it will spoiled easily because at
room temperature its optimum condition for it to grow which if it is in a cold enviroment, the
bacteria will be inactive.

9. How to control pathogenic microbes + illustration!

 Personal hygiene practice, sanitation
 Use of antibiotics
o Bacteriostatic -> it only slows the growth of the bacteria
o Bacteriocidal -> it kill the bacteria
o Use antibiotics is not recomended, only certain types of food can use
antibiotics. This is mainly because the residue of antibiotics stay in the food.
 Bacteriophages – also known as bacteriocin
o Bacteria that contain a certain DNA codes that can produce substances that are
toxic to the pathogens (undergo the DNA recombinant)
o Biopreservation – bacteria A produce substance that are toxic to bacteria B –
so that bacteria B is dead.
 Heat treatment
o Some pathogens can be killed by heat treatment such as sterilization and
pasteurization (depent on the foods characteristic)
 Irradiation
o Some pathogen can be killed by exposed to UV light (radiation), but if not
careful some of them can undergo mutation and can be immune.

10. How to control microbes in food industry?

 Control of access (cleaning & sanitation)

o To minimize the access of microorganisms in food & help to reduce the
microbial load to desired levels in further processed food.

 Control by physical removal

o Gained access to food can be with: centrifugation, filtration, trimming,
washing.

 Control by heat
 o To destroy vegetative cells & spores of microorganisms especially pathogenic
& spoilage.
 Low heat processing: below 100oC to destroy the pathogens
 High – heat: above 100oC for a desired period of time

 Control by low temperature

o To prevent or reduce growth of microorganisms. Also reduce or prevent
catalytic activity of microbial enzymes.

 Control by reduced water activity

o To prevent the growth of vegetative cells and germination prevention of toxin
production by toxigenic molds. Water activity can be reduced by: natural
dehydration, mechanical dying, smoking.

 Control by low pH and organic acids

 To reduce the pH to control microbial growth. Below 5.0: bacteria
injured or die. Acid used: lactic acid, citric acid, sorbic, benzoic etc.
ILLUSTRATION
Green color may develop in meat through reaction of the pigment myoglobin with
certain compounds. When myoglobin reacts with hydrogen sulphide, the result pigment is
suplhmyoglobin, and when myoglobin reacts with hydrogen peroxide, a number of pigments
are produced and they're green. Sulphmyoglobin greening is associated with the growth of
bacteria Pseudomonas mephitica. This bacteria requires low oxygen level and pH greater than
5.9 for production of hydrogen sulphide from sulphur-containing amino acids.

Flavobacteria are frequently found in the dairy processing environment and responsible for
several defects in dairy products. In milk, they produce heat resistant proteolytic enzymes for
off-flavours in pasteurized milk and cream. They also responsible for reduction in cheddar
cheese and bitterness in milk due to the production of phospholipase C. Rancid and fruity
flacours result from lipolysis. Flavobacterium is the most abundant caseolytic psychrotroph in
raw milk.

Factors that favor malolactic fermentation are prolonged contact between the wine and grape
skins after alcoholic fermentation and on-lees aging, as yeast autolysis generates nutrients that
stimulate the growth of lactic acid bacteria. The lag phase often does not occur when the acidity
of the grapes used to make the wine is low or when they have a high pH. In such cases, lactic
acid bacteria may appear before the end of alcoholic fermentation, causing what is known as
lactic taint, which is a considerable increase in the volatile acidity of the wine as the lactic acid
bacteria start to metabolize sugars at the same time as malic acid. In wines to which no sulfites
are added, certain strains of lactic acid bacteria can alter the quality of the wine by degrading
components such as citric acid, tartaric acid, and glycerol. This is particularly common in low-
acid wines.

 Lactic acid formation: Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc

 Lipolysis: Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, Serratia, Micrococcus
 Pigment formation: Flavobacterium, Serratia, Micrococcus
 Gas formation: Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, Proteus
 Slime or rope formation: enterobacter, Streptococcus
11. Define toxin origin in Foods. How many types of toxin based on its origin ?
Toxins appear in food due to bacterial and natural contamination. Toxins are actually
good for defending themselves from predators. But toxins also become a problem because they
can cause health problems for human. The following types of distribution of toxins :
 Aquatic Biotoxin
This toxin is in the form of algae poison in the sea. Usually it will attack fish and other
marine animals, such as shells, oysters, etc.
 Cyanogenic Glycoside
These toxins include phytotoxin, which is caused by a chemical compound. Generally,
this compound will appear in 2000 types of plants. The most known plant that contains
this toxin is cassava plants. The dangerous level of this toxin is if it produces excess
cyanide content.
 Furocoumarins
The types of toxins that appear in celery, orange or citrus plants, lemon, and some
medicinal plants. This toxin is a phototoxic type, the UV exposure sometimes can
irritates the skin.
 Lectins
This is a substance that appears in red beans. This compound can be toxic if the lectin
content in red bean is in high level.
 Mycotoxins
Mycotoxin is one type of toxin that appears when contaminated. This toxin will appears
from mushrooms that grow in fruits, cereal, and herbs.
 Solanines and Chaconine
Solanines and chaconine are toxins that will occur naturally in tomatoes, potatoes, and
eggplant. Plants produce solanines and chaconine as a response to pressure, UV light,
microorganisms, and pest attack.
 Poisonous Mushrooms
Wild mushrooms contain several types of toxins such as muscimol and muscarine,
which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Cooking or peeling the mushroom can’t
deactive the toxins, that’s why it’s better not to eat wild mushrooms.
 Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are toxins that produced by the families Boraginaceae,
Asteraceae, and Fabaceae. Many of them are weeds that contaminated food crops.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids also cause adverse health effects, for example it can causing
cancer.

12. How do you know about mycotoxin ? How important is it for commerce activities
especially export foods and feeds ?
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by certain types of moulds
(fungi). Moulds that can produce mycotoxins grow on numerous foodstuffs such as cereals,
dried fruits, nuts and spices. Mould growth can occur either before harvest or after harvest,
during storage, on/in the food itself often under warm, damp and humid conditions. Most
mycotoxins are chemically stable and survive food processing. Several hundred different
mycotoxins have been identified, but the most commonly observed mycotoxins that present a
concern to human health and livestock include aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, patulin, fumonisins,
zearalenone and nivalenol/deoxynivalenol. Mycotoxins appear in the food chain as a result of
mould infection of crops both before and after harvest. Exposure to mycotoxins can happen
either directly by eating infected food or indirectly from animals that are fed contaminated
feed, in particular from milk.

Mycotoxicoses in human like other toxicological syndromes can be categorized as acute or

chronic. Acute toxicity has a rapid onset and an obvious toxic response, while chronic toxicity
is characterized by low dose exposure over a long time period leading to cancer and other
generally reversible effects. Aflatoxin contributes factor for the disease like Kwashiorkor and
Reye’s syndrome when children suffering it, immunosuppression in children. Despite this,
ruminants are less affected than non-ruminant animals. However, production (milk, beef or
wool), reproduction and growth can be altered when ruminants consume mycotoxin
contaminated feed for extended periods of time. Health effects occur in companion animals,
livestock, poultry and humans because aflatoxins are potent hepatotoxins, immunosuppressant,
and mutagens and carcinogens. Zearalenone has major effects on reproduction that can lead to
hyperestrogenism. Prepubertal swine are the most sensitive species. Typical clinical signs of
hyperestrogenism are swelling of the vulva, increase in uterine size and secretions, mammary
gland hyperplasia and secretion, prolonged oestrus, anestrus, increased incidence of
pseudopregnancy, infertility, decreased libido, and secondary complications of rectal and
vaginal prolapses, stillbirths and small litters. Fumonisins (B1 and B2) toxic metabolites that
are usually found in corn have been implicated in field cases of porcine pulmonary oedema
(PPE) and equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM). Experimentally, fumonisin has been shown
to cause liver damage in multiple species including pigs, horses, cattle, rabbits, and primates
as well as species-specific target organ toxicity, such as lung in pigs, brain in horses, kidney in
rats, rabbits, and sheep, and oesophagus in rats and pigs. Epidemiologic data has linked
ingestion of corn contaminated with F. verticillioides to human oesophageal cancer, and
fumonisins have been shown to be hepatocarcinogenic in rats and mice. For example, both
ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin cause nephropathy in animals and they have also been
implicated as the cause of Balkan endemic nephropathy in humans. Both OTA and citrinin are
well known nephrotoxins. OTA is also carcinogenic to rodents and possesses teratogenic,
immunotoxic, neurotoxic, mutagenic properties. Compared to OTA, ochratoxin B is rarely
found and very less toxic. Ingestion of clover hay containing slaframine causes salivary
episodes that last from several hours to over 3 days in ruminants and horses.

13. What do you know about food intoxication ? Give illustration

Food intoxication or as we call it food poisoning is a foodborne illness that occurs from
eating a food that contains a toxin that produced by organisms such as bacteria, fungi etc that
lived in the food item which causes symptoms or illness. The living microorganism itself does
not have to be consumed for people to get the intoxication because bacteria usually do not grow
in host and intoxication occurs after food is ingested. Toxins that cause intoxication can be
produced 3 main things : Harmful microorganisms (like Clostridium botulinum), the result of
a chemical contamination (like cleaning products), or naturally part of a plant or seafood. The
symptoms of food poisoning are as following: nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pains,
headache, and lethargy. The symptoms of food poisoning vary depending on the cause of the
illness after eating contaminated food.
Example illustration of botulism:
 Clostridium
Botulinum

Botulinum
toxin

Canned
food

12 – 36 hours
Symptoms :
Blurred vision
Difficulty in speaking,
swallowing and breathing
Nausea
Vomiting
Weakness
Fatigue and paralysis

14. What kind of bacteria producing toxin ? Name some bacteria with its toxin. How
important will be their presence in food safety
Kind of bacteria that producing toxin :
1. Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus :
Aspergillus sp. (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus) is however known
to produce aflatoxin B1. Aflatoxin B1 is a common contaminant in a variety of foods
including peanuts, cottonseed meal, corn, and other grains; as well as animal feeds.
Aflatoxin B1 is considered the most toxic aflatoxin and it is highly implicated in
HepatoCellular Carcinoma (HCC) in humans. The presence of Aspergillus sp. in association
with the tomato wash water could pose a deadly threat to human safety due to its production
of aflatoxin.
2. Escherichia coli :
 Shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) and Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC)
are strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli that produce either Shiga toxin or Shiga-like
toxin (verotoxin). The ones that do are collectively known as enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli (EHEC) and are major causes of foodborne illness. The verocytotoxin
(shiga-like toxin) can directly damage renal and endothelial cells. Sources of contamination
mainly include raw meat and unpasteurized dairy products.

3. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hyicus, and Staphylococcus intermedius

The bacteria species Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hyicus as well as
Staphylococcus intermedius produce one or more heat-stable proteins which behave as
enterotoxins (SET). SETs are the main causative agents of food poisoning next to
Salmonellosis and Campylobacteriosis. Generally, it is assumed that a population of 5 x
10⁵ cells of enterotoxin-producing S. aureus strains per gram of food is required to lead to
an intoxication. However, other studies show that only 100 – 200 ng of Staphylococcus
enterotoxins can lead to symptoms of food poisoning. SET intoxications have been
frequently associated with pasta, finished meat products, ham, pies, chicken meat products,
fish, fish products, milk, milk products, ice cream, egg products, salads, pastries and cake
stuffing as well as preparations from these food products.

4. Clostridium botulinum
Clostridium botulinum is a heat-tolerant microorganism capable of growing and
producing a highly potent toxin in canned fish that has been underprocessed or
contaminated as a result of container leaks. Clostridium botulinum is a Gram positive,
obligate anaerobic (only grows in absence of oxygen), spore-forming bacterium. The
organism forms spores that are resistant to many common food process controls. Botulinal
neurotoxins produced by vegetative cells (growing form) of this anaerobic bacterium are
among the most potent biological neurotoxins known. If canned foods like meat, fish or
vegetables are under-processed or become contaminated with Clostridium botulinum after
processing, then fatal food poisoning will result. The sealed can provides an ideal,
anaerobic (oxygen free) environment for the bacterium to grow.

5. Aeromonas hydrophila
Aeromonas hydrophila is an aquatic organism of medical important that was
originally isolated from frogs, in which it produces the red leg disease. A. hydrophila
producing aerolysin toxin. Aeromonas hydrophila is widely distributed in fresh water, salt
water, water supplies, sludge, sewage, and fish tank. So, that kind of product that easy to
contaminated are water, fish, meat, poultry, and milk. The organism is susceptible to
chlorine, but resistance to cold temperature and common antibiotics, such as penicillin,
ampicillin, and colistin. The affected person exhibits gastrointestinal symptoms, such as
abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

How important will be their presence in food safety :

Ingestion of food contaminated with those bacterial toxins can cause severe cases of food
poisoning. Therefore, detection of pathogens and their toxins during production, transport and
before consume of food produce, as well as protection against food spoilage is a task of great
social, economic and public health importance.
15. What do you know about indicator bacteria as contaminant ? Give illustration their
route of contamination in foods related to food safety

Indicator bacteria are the types of bacteria used to detect and estimate the level of fecal
contamination of water. The fecal material can enter the environment from many sources
including waste water treatment plants, livestock, sanitary landfills, pet and wildlife. This
indicator bacteria are not dangerous to human health but used to indicate the presence of health
risk. Species of pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella or Campylobacter, associated with
Gastroenteritis are include in indicator bacteria.

Illustration:
Listeria monocytogenes – is a Gram positive, commonly present in the environment and occurs
in almost all food raw materials. Found in at least 37 mammalian species, as well as 17 species
of birds. L. monocytogenes is resists the deleterious effects of freezing, drying, and heat. Can
be transmitted via 3 main routes: contact with animals, cross-infection of newborn babies in
hospital and foodborne infection. L. monocytogenes has been associated with food sources
such as raw milk, supposedly pasteurised fluid milk, cheeses, ice cream, raw vegetables,
fermented raw-meat sausages, raw and cooked poultry, raw meats (all types), and raw and
smoked fish. And able to grow at temperatures as low as 3 °C permits multiplication in
refrigerated foods. It can survive or even grow at pH values as low as 4.4.

Campylobacter jejuni – is a Gram negative slender, it is relatively fragile, and sensitive to

environmental stresses. Campylobacter spp. is widespread in nature, not only in wildlife but
also among food animals such as cattle, sheep, swine, and avian species as commensally
organisms. the main source of the spread of C. jejuni on poultry carcasses is their intestinal
contents.

Salmonella – is a Gram negative, the growth range for salmonellae is 5 - 47 °C at pH 4.0 - 9.0,
with optimum growth at 35 - 37 °C and pH 6.5 - 7.5. Salmonellae are salt-tolerant. Variety of
foods have been implicated in outbreaks of illness caused by many different serotypes of
Salmonella: raw meats, poultry, eggs, milk and dairy products, fish, shrimp, frog legs, yeast,
coconut, sauces and salad dressing, cake mixes, cream-filled desserts and toppings, dried
gelatine, peanut butter, cocoa, and chocolate. The present situation with S. Enteritidis is
complicated by the presence of the organism inside the egg, in the yolk. Salmonella still is the
most frequently recorded pathogen in the production chain of food of animal origin. At present
the predominant serotypes are S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium. Salmonella from foods
involve control of the following steps: raw materials, personal and environmental hygiene,
process conditions, post-process contamination, retail and catering practices, consumer
handling.

Escherichia coli - They form part of the natural gastro-intestinal microflora of man and warm-
blooded animals. Because many microbes from faeces are pathogenic in animals and humans,
the presence of the intestinal bacterium E. coli in water and foods indicates a potential hygiene
hazard. There are six recognized groups of pathogenic E. coli (EPEC, ETEC, EIEC, EaggEC,
EHEC, NTEC). there are four recognized classes of enterovirulent E. coli (collectively referred
to as the EEC group) that cause gastroenteritis in humans. Undercooked or raw hamburger
(ground beef) has been implicated in many of the documented outbreaks, however E. coli
O157:H7 outbreaks have implicated alfalfa sprouts, unpasteurized fruit juices, dry-cured
salami, lettuce, game meat, and cheese curds.