Inactivation of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Ground Chicken Meat Using High Pressure Processing and Gamma Radiation, and in Purge and Chicken Meat Surfaces by Ultraviolet Light.

Christopher H Sommers,Shiowshuh Sheen,O J Scullen

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00413

Abstract

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, including uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), are common contaminants in poultry meat and may cause urinary tract infections after colonization of the gastrointestinal tract and transfer of contaminated feces to the urethra. Three non-thermal processing technologies used to improve the safety and shelf-life of both human and pet foods include high pressure processing (HPP), ionizing (gamma) radiation (GR), and ultraviolet light (UV-C). Multi-isolate cocktails of UPEC were inoculated into ground chicken which was then treated with HPP (4°C, 0–25 min) at 300, 400, or 500 MPa. HPP D10, the processing conditions needed to inactivate 1 log of UPEC, was 30.6, 8.37, and 4.43 min at 300, 400, and 500 MPa, respectively. When the UPEC was inoculated into ground chicken and gamma irradiated (4 and -20°C) the GR D10 were 0.28 and 0.36 kGy, respectively. The UV-C D10 of UPEC in chicken suspended in exudate and placed on stainless steel and plastic food contact surfaces ranged from 11.4 to 12.9 mJ/cm2. UV-C inactivated ca. 0.6 log of UPEC on chicken breast meat. These results indicate that existing non-thermal processing technologies such as HPP, GR, and UV-C can significantly reduce UPEC levels in poultry meat or exudate and provide safer poultry products for at-risk consumers.

Highlights

Escherichia coli are classified as commensal, or variants that cause disease such as intestinal pathogenic E. coli or extraintestinal (ExPEC) types
E. coli such as ExPEC (UPEC) are responsible for 75–95% of urinary tract infections (UTI) and uncomplicated cystitis and pyelonephritis (Nordstom et al, 2013)
The high pressure processing (HPP) inactivation kinetics for the Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) multi-isolate cocktail is shown in Table 1 and Figure 1

Summary

Introduction

Escherichia coli are classified as commensal (natural microflora), or variants that cause disease such as intestinal pathogenic E. coli (iPEC) or extraintestinal (ExPEC) types. Groups of ExPEC include Neonatal Meningococcal E. coli (NMEC), Avian Pathogenic E. coli, (APEC), Sepsisassociated Pathogenic E. coli (SEPEC) and Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) (Mitchell et al, 2015). E. coli such as ExPEC (UPEC) are responsible for 75–95% of urinary tract infections (UTI) and uncomplicated cystitis and pyelonephritis (Nordstom et al, 2013). Fifty percent of women will contract one UTI in their lifetime, and 25% will have a recurrent UTI (Minardi et al, 2011; Bao et al, 2014). The mechanism for contraction of a UTI is transfer of contaminated feces from the gastrointestinal tract to the urethra, and isolates associated with UTI invariably match the individual’s fecal microflora (Moreno et al, 2008)

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