SURVIVAL OF SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM IN REFRIGERATED CULTURED MILKS1

Abstract

Cultured skimmilks containing Salmonella typhimurium were prepared at 21, 30, or 42 C using different species of lactic acid bacteria (0.25, 1.0, and 5% inoculum) either singly or in combinations. Several commercial cultures also were used. Cultured skimmilks were stored at 11 C and tested at 3-day intervals for numbers of viable salmonellae and lactic acid bacteria and for pH. Survival of S. typhimurium varied from 6 to 9 days and from 3 to 6 days in milks cultured with 0.25% Streptococcus lactis at 21 and 30 C, respectively. Increasing the inoculum to 1% with incubation at 30 C yielded a product no more detrimental to S. typhimurium than when the lower inoculum was used at 30 C. Survival of S. typhimurium always exceeded 9 days when S. cremoris was used to make cultured skimmilks. Products made with commercial mixed cultures composed of S. lactis and S. cremoris allowed S. typhimurium to survive for periods intermediate between the extremes observed when pure cultures were used. Skimmilks cultured with Streptococcus diacetilactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum, even when skimmilks cultured with the latter organism were acidified with citric acid and incubated further, were essentially without effect on survival of S. typhimurium during refrigerated storage. Use of Streptococcus thermophilus (1% culture, 42 C incubation) yielded cultured skimmilks that were most detrimental to survival of salmonellae, whereas skimmilks fermented with Lactobacillus bulgaricus permitted survival of low numbers of salmonellae beyond 9 days. Milks cultured at 42 C with a 5% inoculum of S. thermophilus mixed with L. bulgaricus or Lactobacillus helveticus were free of viable salmonellae before the incubation was complete. Salmonellae grown in skimmilk at 21 C without a lactic culture were more resistant to inactivation during refrigerated storage than was S. typhimurium grown at 30 or 42 C.