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FSQM 030
Food Hazards’ Fundamentals II: Microbial Contamination of Food

Hesham M. Elhariry

Ph.D. Microbial Genetics, Hannover University, Germany

Prof. of Molecular and Food Microbiology
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture
Ain Shams University, Egypt

Tel: +201226458647
e-mail: h.elhariry@agr.asu.edu.eg; h.elhariry@yahoo.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hesham_Elhariry

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9SkW0D0AAAAJ&hl=en

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Food Microflora
may include fruits and vegetables, animals,
seafood, air, soil, sewage, water, humans,
food ingredients such as spices and other
additives, various food contact surfaces
such as equipment, and other various
sources such as packaging materials,
Extrinsic Factors containers, flies and rodents

Implicant Factors

Intrinsic Factors

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 2

Factors affecting the Growth and Survival of Micro-Organisms in Food

Extrinsic Factors usually represent the environment in which the food is stored
Temperature of storage Relative humidity of storage Atmospheric composition
Competing microflora

Intrinsic Factors are those that are characteristic of the food itself
Acidity and pH Moisture content or water activity Antimicrobials (natural and added)
Presence of nutrients Biological structures of food Redox potential

Implicant Factors The most important factor probably is the nature or the genetic makeup of
the bacteria, as some species and strains of bacteria grow faster and are
more heat resistant than others.
Growth rate Nutrients affinity or requirements

Processing Factors Include all factors that affect microbial contaminants (+/-)
Pre-preparation Preservation methods
Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

Principle

Microbial growth is accomplished through enzymatic reactions. It is well known that within a
certain range, with every 10 oC rise in temperature, the catalytic rate of an enzyme doubles.
Similarly, the enzymatic reaction rate is reduced to half by decreasing the temperature by
10oC. This relationship changes beyond the growth range. Because temperature influences
enzyme reactions, it has an important role in microbial growth in food.

Temperature is the most important factor that affects the microbial growth in foods.

Foods are exposed to different temperatures from the time of production until consumption.
Depending on processing conditions, a food can be exposed to high heat, from 65oC
(roasting of meat) to more than 100 oC (in ultrahigh temperature processing). For long-term
storage, a food can be kept at 5oC (refrigeration) to –20oC or below (freezing). Some
relatively stable foods are also kept between 10 and 35oC (cold to ambient temperature).
Some ready-to-eat foods are kept at warm temperature (50 to 60oC) for several hours (e.g.,
in the supermarket deli).
Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

Spoilage and safety of highly perishable, ready-to-eat foods depend upon the storage
temperature.

Temperature abuse is primarily the most important contributing factor in foodborne

Illness outbreaks and/or food spoilage.

Inadequate rate and extent of

cooling of cooked products leads to
food poisoning outbreaks associated
with the germination, outgrowth and
multiplication of Clostridium
perfringens spores. (Why?)
Microbial Hazards
C. perfringen,
spore-forming gram-positive anaerobic
bacterium that is found in many
environmental sources as well as in the
intestines of humans and animals. It is
commonly found on raw meat and poultry.
It is an important food and waterborne
pathogen.
Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

For most food products, time and temperature of storage go together and both should be
considered essential for microbiological safety of a food product.

Therefore, the time and temperature of holding is also important in cooling of cooked
products since the growth of pathogens is known to occur during improper or slow
cooling of foods prepared in large quantities and stored in huge containers.

In addition, improper thawing temperatures can foster microbial growth.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2
There is a direct relationship among temperature, bacterial lag phase and growth rate, in that
lag phase decreases and growth rate increases with increasing temperature.

Microorganisms can grow over

a broad range of temperatures.

However, the optimum

temperature of growth for
most foodborne
pathogens is between 30
and 37°C.

Microorganisms can also grow

at low temperatures but
slowly.

In general, temperatures less

than 5°C halt the replication of
microbial pathogens and retard
spoilage, while temperature
Effect of temperature on growth rate of Listeria innocua greater than 54°C are lethal to
in a modified brain heart infusion medium pathogens.
Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

Based on their growth temperature ranges, microorganisms

can be classified as:

Minimum Optimum Maximum

Temp. ◦C Temp. ◦C Temp. ◦C
Thermophiles 35 55-65 65-90 Bacillus stearothermophilus, a
(Thermophilic Microorganisms) Gram-positive sporeformer,
which can cause spoilage of
canned foods
Mesophiles
5-10 30-45 45-55 Most foodborne pathogens
(Mesophilic Microorganisms) are mesophiles

Psychrophiles
(Psychrophilic Microorganisms)
Psychrotrophs
(Psychrotophic Microorganisms)
(Psychroduric Microorganisms)
-5 to +5 12-15 15-20 Molds, yeasts, Acinetobacter,
Citrobacter, Corynebacterium,
Enterobacter, Erwinia,
Escherichia, Flavobacterium,
-5 to +5 25-30 30-35 Klebsiella, Pseudomonas,
Yersinia, Serratia, Aeromonas,
Listeria, Clostridium, Bacillus,
Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus,
Micrococcus, Proteus,
Serratia, and Vibrio.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2

Thermodurics
Thermoduric Microorganisms

Microorganisms that survive pasteurization temperature are designated as thermodurics.

They include species from genera Micrococcus, Bacillus, Clostridium, Lactobacillus,
Pediococcus, and Enterococcus. Bacterial spores are also included in this group. They have
different growth temperatures and many can grow at refrigerated temperature as well as
thermophilic temperature.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2

The relative humidity of a storage environment plays a significant role in altering the moisture
content of a food product and in turn, the aw.

If a food with a certain aw picks up moisture from the environment due to higher relative
humidity, the aw of the food increases due to the exchange of moisture from the environment
into the food product.

If the change in aw is such that microbial growth is permitted, it could cause spoilage or render
the food unsafe due to growth of pathogens. For example, improperly wrapped meats, whole
chicken or fish tend to undergo surface spoilage before deep spoilage occurs due to the high
relative humidity in the refrigerator. Hence, storage at appropriate relative humidity is
important.

If the storage environment is dry or less humid and the product loses moisture, it may not
affect the microbiological safety of the product, however, this may have negative effects on the
sensory attributes.

Foods that undergo surface spoilage from molds, yeasts or bacteria should be stored under
low relative humidity conditions. Altering the gaseous environment could be an alternate
measure to prevent surface spoilage in packaged foods without the need of lowering the
relative humidity.
Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

Modifying the atmosphere during food storage can greatly influence microbial growth.

Often gases are used in packages not only to control microorganisms, but also to inhibit
chemical and enzymatic changes.

This allows the preservation of the fresh state of the foods without the temperature or
chemical treatments employed in traditional food preservation techniques such as
canning, freezing, dehydration, etc.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2
Various types of packaging using gases for
preservation include:

Controlled atmosphere storage (CAS) Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)

Direct addition of CO2 (DAC) Controlled atmospheric packaging (CAP)

Hypobaric storage

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2
The gases usually used in MAP include CO2, O2
and N2 in various proportions depending on the
type of product and microorganism of concern.

The solubility of these gases depends on various other factors such as the storage temperature
and food composition. For example, CO2 has increased solubility at low temperatures and low
salt concentrations.

The role of CO2 is primarily to inhibit the

growth and metabolism of microorganisms.

CO2 selectively inhibits the growth of Gram

negative bacteria which typically grow relatively
rapidly and produce off-flavors and odors
associated with spoilage of many foods. For
example, spoilage of meat associated with the
growth of Pseudomonas spp.
Microbial Hazards
Pseudomonas is Gram-negative, aerobic (and at
times facultatively anaerobic), bacillus with unipolar
motility. It has been identified as an opportunistic
pathogen of both humans and plants. P. aeruginosa
is the type species of the genus Pseudomonas.
Food spoilage by Pseudomonas spp. can occurred in
specific food groups such as milk and dairy products,
meat, fish, water, fruit, and vegetables
Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry
 Extrinsic Factors 2

Lactic acid bacteria are relatively

unaffected by CO2, and they continue to
grow and tend to decrease the rate of
spoilage.
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are Gram-positive, non-
sporeforming cocci, coccobacilli or rods with a DNA
base composition of less than 53mol% G+C. They
generally are non respiratory and lack catalase.
They ferment glucose primarily to lactic acid, or
to lactic acid, CO2 and ethanol.

Nevertheless, this ability of MAP to inhibit

spoilage organisms is a major food safety
concern because the delay in spoilage gives
many contaminating pathogens an extended
period for growth. For example, growth and
Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, rod-
toxin production by Clostridium botulinum, a
shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming, motile
strict anaerobe, is a concern in MAP foods. bacterium with the ability to produce the
neurotoxin botulinum.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2

With modified atmosphere the interactions

of various factors such as temperature,
product to headspace gas volume ratio,
package barrier properties, type and load of
the microflora, and food composition play a
major role in microbial inhibition

Ozone is another gas used for sanitizing the surface of fresh produce as well as equipment.
Ozone at 0.15 to 5.0 ppm concentrations has shown to inhibit spoilage bacteria as well as
yeasts

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2

Competing microflora

The microflora that predominate in a particular food depend upon their initial numbers,
the available substrates present in the food, and the accumulation of metabolic products.

Different types of bacteria present in foods can exhibit synergistic or antagonistic

interaction.

Growth of lactic acid bacteria is inhibitory to other bacteria due to the production of lactic
acid that lowers the pH. In addition, many lactic acid bacteria possess the lactoperoxidase
system, and this results in the production of hydrogen peroxide which inhibits other
bacteria.

In sauerkraut fermentations, leuconostocs grow initially and produce lactic acid which
lowers the pH of the product, and this allows growth of lactobacilli that can then grow and
bring about changes associated with product flavor.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry

 Extrinsic Factors 2

Competing microflora

At times some microflora are able to utilize nutrients required for growth of some others
and compete better.

For example, coliforms and Pseudomonas utilize amino acids and streptococci utilize
certain vitamins required for Staphylococcus aureus and thereby inhibit the growth of
this pathogen

Pseudomonas species have been shown to stimulate Listeria monocytogenes by

providing more available substrates for their growth through proteolysis and lipolysis

In some instances, the growth of one microorganism can remove the inhibitory
component and allow growth of another microorganism. For example, in mold ripened
cheeses, mold growth can increase the pH allowing pathogens such as L. monocytogenes
to grow, which could compromise the safety of these products.

Microbial Hazards Prof. Dr. H. Elhariry