EFFECT OF SANITIZER STRESS RESPONSE ON THE GROWTH KINETICS OFLISTERIA MONOCYTOGENESON IMITATION CRABMEAT AND IN BROTH AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE

The use of the so-called 'tubs' for transporting and storing fresh fishery products

On-land transport/storage of fresh fishery products (FFP) for up to 3 days in 'tubs' of three-layered poly-ethylene filled with freshwater and ice was compared to the currently authorised practice (fish boxes of high-density poly-ethylene filled with ice). The impact on the survival and growth of biological hazards in fish and the histamine production in fish species associated with a high amount of histidine was assessed. In different modelling scenarios, the FFP are stored on-board in freshwater or seawater/ice (in tubs) and once on-land they are 'handled' (i.e. sorted or gutted and/or filleted) and transferred to either tubs or boxes. The temperature of the FFP was assumed to be the most influential factor affecting relevant hazards. Under reasonably foreseeable 'abusive' scenarios and using a conservative modelling approach, the growth of the relevant hazards (i.e. Listeria monocytogenes, Aeromonas spp. and non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum), is expected to be < 0.2 log10 units higher in tubs than in boxes after 3 days when the initial temperature of the fish is 0°C ('keeping' process). Starting at 7°C ('cooling-keeping' process), the expected difference in the growth potential is higher (< 1 log10 for A. hydrophila and < 0.5 log10 for the other two hazards) due to the poorer cooling capacity of water and ice (tub) compared with ice (box). The survival of relevant hazards is not or is negligibly impacted. Histamine formation due to growth of Morganella psychrotolerans under the 'keeping' or 'cooling-keeping' process can be up to 0.4 ppm and 1.5 ppm higher, respectively, in tubs as compared to boxes after 3 days, without reaching the legal limit of 100 ppm. The water uptake associated with the storage of the FFP in tubs (which may be up to 6%) does not make a relevant contribution to the differences in microbial growth potential compared to boxes.

A Predictive Model for the Growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Commercial Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus)

During the processing and handling of commercial blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), Listeria monocytogenes can potentially contaminate cooked meat and grow to hazardous levels. To manage this risk, predictive models are useful tools for designing and implementing preventive controls; however, no model specific for blue crab meat has been published or evaluated. In this study, a cocktail of L. monocytogenes strains was added to pasteurized blue crab meat, which was incubated at storage temperatures from 0 to 35°C. At selected time intervals, L. monocytogenes was enumerated by direct plating onto modified Oxford agar. A primary model was fitted to kinetic data to estimate the lag-phase duration (LPD) and growth rate (GR). Listeria monocytogenes replicated from 0 to 35°C, with GR ranging from 0.004 to 0.518 log CFU/h. Overall, the LPD decreased with increasing temperature, displaying a maximum value of 187 h at 0°C; however, this trend was not consistent. The LPD was not detected at 10°C, and it occurred inconsistently from trial to trial. A secondary GR model (R2 = 0.9892) for pasteurized crab meat was compared with the L. monocytogenes GR in fresh crab meat, demonstrating bias and accuracy factors of 0.98 and 1.36, respectively. The model estimates varied from other published data and models, especially at temperatures ≥5°C, supporting the need for a specific predictive tool for temperature deviations.