title: Assessment of a regulatory sanitization process in Egyptian dairy plants in regard to the adherence of some food-borne pathogens and their biofilms.
abstract: Food-borne pathogens may develop certain strategies that enable them to defy harsh conditions such as chemical sanitization. Biofilm formation represents a prominent one among those adopted strategies, by which food-borne pathogens protect themselves against external threats. Thus, bacterial biofilm is considered as a major hazard for safe food production. This study was designed to investigate the adherence and the biofilm formation ability of some food-borne pathogens on stainless steel and polypropylene surfaces using chip assay, and to validate regular sanitizing process (sodium hypochlorite 250 mg/L) for effective elimination of those pathogens. Sixteen pathogenic bacterial strains, previously isolated from raw milk and dairy products at Zagazig city, Egypt (9 Staphylococcus aureus, 4 Cronobacter sakazakii and 3 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium), were chosen for this study. Strains showed different patterns of adherence and biofilm formation on tested surfaces with minor significance between surfaces. The ability of sodium hypochlorite to completely eradicate either adhered or biofilm-embedded pathogens varied significantly depending on the strain and type of surface used. Whilst, sodium hypochlorite reduced tested pathogens counts per cm² of produced biofilms, but it was not able to entirely eliminate neither them nor adherent Cronobacter sakazakii to stainless steel surface. This study revealed that biofilm is considered as a sustainable source of contamination of dairy products with these pathogens, and also emphasized the need of paying more attention to the cleaning and sanitizing processes of food contact surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Food Control Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. mbayoumi@zu.edu.eg
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bayoumi
authors.forename: Rania M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.forename: Salah F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Abd El Aal
authors.forename: Esmat I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Awad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D044083:Cronobacter sakazakii; D003612:Dairying; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004534:Egypt; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants; D011126:Polypropylenes; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite / Q000494:pharmacology; D013193:Stainless Steel; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants; D011126:Polypropylenes; D013193:Stainless Steel; D012973:Sodium Hypochlorite