Effect of time and temperature on multiplication of Vibrio vulnificus in postharvest Gulf Coast shellstock oysters.
After harvest, shellstock oysters stored under controlled temperatures of 10, 13, and 18 degrees C and at ambient outside air temperature (23 to 34 degrees C) were sampled after 12 and 30 h for Vibrio vulnificus. At 13 degrees C and below, V. vulnificus failed to multiply in the oysters. In oysters held at 18 degrees C for 30 h and under ambient conditions for 12 and 30 h, V. vulnificus numbers were statistically greater (P < 0.05) than those in oysters at harvest. These data indicate that endogenous V. vulnificus can multiply in unchilled shellstock oysters.
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Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528-0158.
D000407:Alabama; D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014733:Vibrio / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification