title: Occurrence of Clostridium botulinum in fresh and cured fish in retail trade in Cochin (India).
abstract: The occurrence of Clostridium botulinum in fresh (67) and cured fish (278) samples in retail trade in Cochin was studied. An overall prevalence of 19% (13/67) was found in fresh retail fish and types A to D were detected in the positive samples. In pelagic fish, incidence of C. botulinum was 18% (7/39) whereas in demersal fish, 21% (5/24) of the samples harboured C. botulinum. Incidence of C. botulinum in shrimp was 25% (1/4) and type D was found in the positive sample. Of 257 cured fish in retail trade tested for the presence of C. botulinum, the overall contamination level was 10% (25/257). Among the C. botulinum types A to D prevalent in fresh fish, types C and D were the predominant types found in cured products. In salt-dried shrimp, of the 21 samples analysed, 10 samples (48%) harboured C. botulinum.
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin, India. root@cift.ker.nic.in
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Lalitha
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Surendran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D033364:Decapoda / Q000382:microbiology*; D005396:Fish Products / Q000382:microbiology; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology*; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007194:India; D015995:Prevalence; D017747:Seafood / Q000382:microbiology*