Detection of STEC in Food

28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists

1 Comment / in Food / by pierre

The detection of Shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) may be

one of the most complex topics in food microbiology at the
moment… and that’s exactly what makes it exciting.

The aim of this article is to explain as simply as possible what

STEC is, what the regulations are, but most importantly, how to
detect them in our food.

Here is a simple article on STEC that even chemists would

understand

Content :

What is a STEC? [#definition]

The consequences of food contamination [#contamination]

The matrices concerned [#matrice]

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 What is a Shigatoxigenic Escherichia
28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists
coli (STEC)?

Simply put, a STEC is a strain of Escherichia coli that has the stx
gene, responsible for producing Shigatoxins… but if it were just
that, it would be too simple! So, let’s get back to basics.

E. coli are gram-negative bacilli, measuring 2 to 4 µm in length

and about 0.6 µm in diameter. They are found in the digestive
tract of warm-blooded animals.

The majority of E. coli are not pathogenic (fortunately), however,

certain strains of E. coli are pathogenic to humans, such as STEC.

Regarding pathogenic STEC strains, it has been found that most of

them possess the following virulence genes:

stx1 and stx2: genes coding for the production of shigatoxin.

eae: gene coding for intimin (which is a factor favoring the

pathogenicity of the strain).

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 The
28/06/2024, 11:43 Consequences of
Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists Food
Contamination by STEC

If Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) contaminations had no

effect on humans, we wouldn’t talk about it… but unfortunately,
that’s not the case.

Each year, STEC is responsible for 1 million illnesses and 128

deaths worldwide, mainly affecting children.

The primary mode of contamination is the ingestion of raw or

undercooked food… contaminated by STEC (STEC are easily
destroyed by heat).

STEC contamination can cause “simple” diarrhea (even though

everyone who has ever had diarrhea knows it’s not that simple!).

But in some cases, and more specifically in children, a person

contaminated by STEC can suffer from bloody diarrhea, even
leading to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), which can leave
lifelong sequels (kidney failure).

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28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists
Ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats) are considered the major
reservoir of these pathogens. They are healthy carriers of
STEC, which are mainly found in their digestive tract.

The contamination of “food” occurs at the time of slaughter for

meat and at the time of milking for dairy products (bacteria
present in feces ending up on the udder).

Therefore, the products most likely to be contaminated by STEC

will be meats consumed raw or undercooked.

The products most susceptible to contamination by STEC are

therefore raw or undercooked meats and raw milk cheeses
(STEC are easily eliminated by heat treatment).

It is also possible for plants to be contaminated (through

spreading or following irrigation with contaminated water).
Speaking of plants means also considering plant-derived
products like flour… which seems to be under the radar at the
moment !

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28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists
Germany, Switzerland: All E. coli strains possessing an stx
gene.

Italy : Let us know if you know ?

USA : Let us know if you know ?

Any other country… let us know if you know ?

Therefore, care must be taken when exporting a product to a

country with different regulations.

Detection of STEC in Foods: The

ISO/TS 13136:2012 Standard

Very few countries have STEC regulations, but there is a standard.

This standard is ISO 13136, titled:

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 TOP 5 serotypes in foods
28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists

The ISO standard proposes a two-step detection protocol:

Screening (search for virulence genes and serotypes in the

enrichment broth).

Confirmation (verifying that the “markers detected by PCR in

the previous step” come from the same bacterium, a sine qua
non condition to consider the bacterium as a STEC).

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28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists

A new version in under construction : ISO/DIS 13136-1

:Microbiology of the food chain. Detection, isolation and
characterization of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).
Part 1: Horizontal method for the detection and isolation of Shiga
toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).

It seems that this one will focus on the detection of E.coli strains
possessing the stx 1 and stx 2 genes.

Alternative Methods for STEC

Detection

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 Conclusion regarding STEC Detection
28/06/2024, 11:43 Detection of STEC in Food - SuperMicrobiologists

On paper, detecting STEC might seem relatively straightforward,

but in practice, it’s far from it. We’ll explain why in the article
“Why is detecting STEC so complicated?

Tags: STEC

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