Processing environment monitoring in low moisture food production facilities: Are we looking for the right microorganisms?

Processing environment monitoring is gaining increasing importance in the context of food safety management plans/HACCP programs, since past outbreaks have shown the relevance of the environment as contamination pathway, therefore requiring to ensure the safety of products. However, there are still many open questions and a lack of clarity on how to set up a meaningful program, which would provide early warnings of potential product contamination. Therefore, the current paper aims to summarize and evaluate existing scientific information on outbreaks, relevant pathogens in low moisture foods, and knowledge on indicators, including their contribution to a "clean" environment capable of limiting the spread of pathogens in dry production environments.

A model to predict the fate of Listeria monocytogenes in different cheese types - A major role for undissociated lactic acid in addition to pH, water activity, and temperature.

Undissociated lactic acid has been shown to play a major role in complete growth inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes in Gouda cheese. In addition, low water activity conditions may contribute to growth inhibition. In the current study, it was assessed whether the major factors that inhibit growth of L.

The 100-plus Study of cognitively healthy centenarians: rationale, design and cohort description.

Although the incidence of dementia increases exponentially with age, some individuals reach more than 100 years with fully retained cognitive abilities. To identify the characteristics associated with the escape or delay of cognitive decline, we initiated the 100-plus Study ( www.100plus.

Minimal inhibitory concentrations of undissociated lactic, acetic, citric and propionic acid for Listeria monocytogenes under conditions relevant to cheese.

Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of undissociated lactic acid were determined for six different Listeria monocytogenes strains at 30 °C and in a pH range of 4.2-5.8.