Attachment and Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on In-Shell Hazelnuts

Lingyu Feng, Muhammed S. Muyyarikkandy, Stephanie R. B. Brown and Mary Anne Amalaradjou
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Lingyu Feng: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Muhammed S. Muyyarikkandy: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Stephanie R. B. Brown: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Mary Anne Amalaradjou: Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-11

Abstract: The multistate Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) O157:H7 outbreak associated with in-shell hazelnuts highlights the pathogen’s ability to involve non-traditional vehicles in foodborne infections. Furthermore, it underscores significant gaps in our knowledge of pathogen survivability and persistence on nuts. Therefore, this study investigated the ability of E. coli O157:H7 to attach and survive on in-shell hazelnuts. In-shell hazelnuts were inoculated with a four-strain mixture of E. coli O157:H7 at 7.6 log colony forming units (CFU)/nut by wet or dry inoculation, stored at ambient conditions (24 ± 1 °C; 40% ± 3% relative humidity (RH) and sampled for twelve months. For the attachment assay, in-shell hazelnuts were inoculated and the adherent population was enumerated at 30 s −1 h following inoculation. Irrespective of the inoculation method, ~5 log CFU of adherent E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from the hazelnuts as early as 30 s after inoculation. Conversely, pathogen survival was significantly reduced under dry inoculation with samples being enrichment negative after five months of storage ( p < 0.05). On the other hand, wet inoculation led to a significantly longer persistence of the pathogen with ~3 log CFU being recovered from the in-shell nuts at 12 months of storage ( p < 0.05). These results indicate that E. coli O157:H7 can survive in significant numbers on in-shell hazelnuts when stored under ambient conditions.

Keywords: Escherichia coli O157:H7; in-shell hazel nuts; attachment; survival; gene expression; wet inoculation; dry inoculation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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