title: Short communication: occurrence of Arcobacter species in industrial dairy plants.
abstract: The present study investigated the presence of Arcobacter spp. in industrial dairy plants. Between February and September 2013, pasteurized milk used for cheesemaking, processing and cleaning water, cheese, and environmental samples from different plant sites, including surfaces in contact or not in contact with food, were sampled. A total of 126 samples were analyzed by the cultural method and isolates were identified by multiplex PCR. Arcobacter spp. were isolated from 22 of 75 environmental samples (29.3%): of them, 22.7% were surfaces in contact with food and 38.7% surfaces not in contact with food. A total of 135 Arcobacter spp. isolates were obtained; of these, 129 and 6 were identified as Arcobacter butzleri and Arcobacter cryaerophilus, respectively. All food processing water and pasteurized milk samples were negative for Arcobacter species. We were not able to determine the primary source of contamination, but the isolation of both A. butzleri and A. cryaerophilus in surfaces in contact with food before and during manufacturing suggests that Arcobacter spp. are not or are only partially affected by routine sanitizing procedures in the industrial dairy plants studied. The efficacy of sanitizing procedures should be evaluated and further studies are needed to determine whether certain Arcobacter strains persist for long periods of time in industrial dairy plants and whether they can survive in different types of cheese in cases of postprocessing contamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serraino
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy. Electronic address: federica.giacometti3@unibo.it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giacometti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020640:Arcobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003612:Dairying / Q000379:methods*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D060885:Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012499:Sanitation / Q000379:methods
keywords: Arcobacter butzleri; Arcobacter cryaerophilus; cheese; dairy plant