Approaches to Meat Safety

Survival of Salmonella enterica and E. coli O157:H7 in Environmental Biofilms Isolated From Pork Plants As Compared to Beef Plants

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Abstract

S. enterica and E. coli O157:H7 are leading causes of foodborne illness in the U.S. Biofilm formation by these pathogens may play an important role in meat contamination. Previous studies suggested that certain S. enterica and E. coli O157:H7 strains may be better at adapting to the processing environment with stronger survival ability via mixed biofilm formation with natural microbial communities and subsequently, a higher chance of causing contamination. Our recent study using natural multispecies biofilms recovered from a processing plant experiencing an increased O157 prevalence showed these processing plant environmental biofilms recruited and protected E. coli O157:H7 to a significantly greater extent than the natural biofilms recovered from a control plant not experiencing similar problems, implying that the plant environment microbial communities may pose the potential to enhance pathogen survival and persistence. Current sanitization studies mostly focus on single-species pathogen biofilms but do not take into consideration that pathogens can be harbored in natural mixed biofilms which are commonly seen in commercial plants. Sanitizer effectiveness can vary significantly due to the interactions between the processing plant environmental microorganisms and the pathogens. Furthermore, in addition to biofilm cell inactivation, post-sanitization pathogen survival control and prevalence prevention are all essential for reducing biofilm–related cross-contamination. Here we evaluated the effectiveness of novel sanitizer products against pathogens harbored in natural mixed biofilms isolated from pork and beef plants, and further examined the impact of the microbial communities present in the different processing environments on pathogen survival and post-sanitization prevalence.

How to Cite:

Wang, R. & Bosilevac, J. M., (2023) “Survival of Salmonella enterica and E. coli O157:H7 in Environmental Biofilms Isolated From Pork Plants As Compared to Beef Plants”, SafePork 14(1).