title: An unusually heavy contamination of honey products by Clostridium botulinum type F and Bacillus alvei.
abstract: Many spores (1-60/g) of Clostridium botulinum type F were detected in different containers of honey products of the same brand. Microbiological and physicochemical properties of the contaminated honey were compared with those of the negative one. No difference in pH, hydroxymethyl furfural contents or diastase activity was found between them. The total counts of anaerobes other than C. botulinum and of yeast were also similar, whereas the aerobe counts, which were proportionally related with the C. botulinum counts, were higher in the positive honey than in the negative one. Motile colony-forming Bacillus alvei was predominant among the aerobes. B. alvei stimulated the toxin production by C. botulinum type F in culture medium incubated under aerobic conditions. The high count of C. botulinum in the honey might have been due to the possible stimulation of growth by B. alvei or some other microorganisms at some stage of honey ripening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Microbiology and Hygiene, Hiroshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000681:Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D001118:Argentina; D001407:Bacillus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002465:Cell Movement; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005662:Furaldehyde / Q000032:analysis; D006722:Honey; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: D005662:Furaldehyde; D000681:Amylases; D001905:Botulinum Toxins