An investigation of the thermal inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and the potential for increased thermotolerance as a result of chilled storage.

Aims: The aims of this study were; (i) to provide thermal inactivation data for Staphylococcus aureus; (ii) to examine the kinetics, including decimal reduction times (D-value) and rate constants (k), that describe the thermal inactivation of Staph. aureus and to compare two different methods of calculating D-values and (iii) to determine whether or not chilled storage would toughen these microorganisms resulting in increased thermotolerance.

Methods And Results: Isolates of Staph.

Food safety knowledge of consumers and the microbiological and temperature status of their refrigerators.

The objectives of this study were to examine domestic food safety knowledge levels of consumers, establish the levels and incidence of bacterial contamination and operational temperatures in domestic refrigerators, and identify areas in which consumer food safety education is necessary in Ireland. A food safety knowledge questionnaire applied to a representative sample of households (n = 1,020) throughout the island of Ireland found the gaps in consumer food safety knowledge. Analysis of swab samples (n = 900) recovered from the domestic refrigerators in these households showed average total viable counts of 7.