Competitive Growth of Chicken Skin Microflora and Clostridium botulinum Type E after an Irradiation Dose of 0.3 Mrad

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Chicken skins with chicken exudate were used as a model system to determine if low dose irradiation might cause a health hazard by eliminating the natural flora and allowing Clostridium botulinum type E spores, if present, to produce toxin in the absence of typical spoilage. Irradiation (0.3 Mrad, 5°C) reduced the natural flora from 104 to 106 to 10 to 500 cells/7 cm2, whereas C. botulinum type E (Beluga) spores were reduced only by one log10. At 10°C, the irradiation survivors of the natural flora were able to multiply and produce spoilage odors within 8 d, whereas the C. botulinum survivors could not produce toxin within 14 d. At an abuse temperature of 30°C, the natural survivors grew fas-than C. botulinum spores and produced an off-odor before the sample was toxic.