Abstract
Battered poultry products may be wrongly regarded and treated by consumers as ready-to-eat and, as such, be implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks. This study aimed at the quantitative description of the growth behavior of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh, partially cooked (non-ready-to-eat) battered chicken nuggets as function of temperature. Commercially prepared chicken breast nuggets were inoculated with L. monocytogenes and stored at different isothermal conditions (4, 8, 12, and 16 °C). The pathogen’s growth behavior was characterized via a two-step predictive modelling approach: estimation of growth kinetic parameters using a primary model, and description of the effect of temperature on the estimated maximum specific growth rate (μmax) using a secondary model. Model evaluation was undertaken using independent growth data under both constant and dynamic temperature conditions. According to the findings of this study, L. monocytogenes may proliferate in battered chicken nuggets in the course of their shelf life to levels potentially hazardous for susceptible population groups, even under well-controlled refrigerated storage conditions. Model evaluation demonstrated a satisfactory performance, where the estimated bias factor (Bf) was 0.92 and 1.08 under constant and dynamic temperature conditions, respectively, while the accuracy factor (Af) value was 1.08, in both cases. The collected data should be useful in model development and quantitative microbiological risk assessment in battered poultry products.
Highlights
Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen of ongoing public health significance [1].Despite its relative rare occurrence, human listeriosis is among the most serious foodborne diseases under European Union (EU) surveillance, being associated with high morbidity and mortality, among the elderly
As indicated by quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) findings, raw meat and poultry products can be the cause of listeriosis if they are not stored, cooked, and/or handled properly [13], with consumer behavior being identified as playing a central role in QMRA in poultry meat [12]
The abovementioned strains were used as a multiple-strain composite in this study in order to account for variation in growth among L. monocytogenes strains, in line with pertinent recommendations and guidelines with regard to food safety challenge studies [42,43,44]
Summary
Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen of ongoing public health significance [1].Despite its relative rare occurrence, human listeriosis is among the most serious foodborne diseases under European Union (EU) surveillance, being associated with high morbidity and mortality, among the elderly. Given the well-established positive association of processed meat and poultry products with the risk of foodborne listeriosis [2,3], assessing the incidence and fate of L. monocytogenes in various ready-to-eat (RTE) products of this category has been the objective of a large volume of research studies globally [4,5,6,7,8]. With specific reference to poultry products, the growth behavior of this pathogenic bacterium has been evaluated in different RTE products such as cooked chicken meat, turkey breast and turkey bologna [9,10,11]. On the other hand, assessing the pathogen’s fate in raw or partially cooked poultry products has not been a research priority, mainly due to the so far low association of such products (which are expected to be sufficiently cooked prior to consumption) with foodborne listeriosis [12]. As indicated by quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) findings, raw meat and poultry products can be the cause of listeriosis if they are not stored, cooked, and/or handled properly [13], with consumer behavior being identified as playing a central role in QMRA in poultry meat [12]
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