Mathematical modeling and assessment of microbial migration during the sprouting of alfalfa in trays in a nonuniformly contaminated seed batch using Enterobacter aerogenes as a surrogate for Salmonella Stanley.
Raw seed sprouts have been implicated in several food poisoning outbreaks in the past 10 years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that sprout growers use interventions (such as testing of spent irrigation water) to control the presence of pathogens in the finished product. During the sprouting process, initially low concentrations of pathogen may increase, and contamination may spread within a batch of sprouting seeds. A model of pathogen growth as a function of time and distance from the contamination spot during the sprouting of alfalfa in trays has been developed with Enterobacter aerogenes. The probability of detecting contamination was assessed by logistic regression at various time points and distances by sampling from sprouts or irrigation water. Our results demonstrate that microbial populations and possibility of detection were greatly reduced at distances of > or = 20 cm from the point of contamination in a seed batch during tray sprouting; however, the probability of detecting microbial contamination at distances less than 10 cm from the point of inoculation was almost 100% at the end of the sprouting process. Our results also show that sampling irrigation water, especially large volumes of water, is highly effective at detecting contamination: by collecting 100 ml of irrigation water for membrane filtration, the probability of detection was increased by three to four times during the first 6 h of seed germination. Our findings have quantified the degree to which a small level of contamination will spread throughout a tray of sprouting alfalfa seeds and subsequently be detected by either sprout or irrigation water sampling.
Liu
Bin
B
Food Risk Analysis Initiative, Rutgers University, 65 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8520, USA.
Schaffner
Donald W
DW
D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D021902:Enterobacter aerogenes / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018525:Germination; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D016015:Logistic Models; D008433:Mathematics; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000382:microbiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development; D013997:Time Factors; D014871:Water Microbiology