ABSTRACT
Adhesion of Bacillus cereus to stainless steel 304 #4 was evaluated after different times and temperatures of contact. Mathematical model was obtained, which was capable of predicting the adhesion of B. cereus to stainless steel as a function of temperature (4–35C) and time (1–10 days). The increase in temperature from 4 to 35C resulted in an increased number of B. cereus cells attached more than 3 log cycles for an adhesion time of 1 day and more than 4 log cycles for an adhesion time of 10 days, indicating the importance of temperature in adhesion. The maximum number of cells attached to coupons incubated at 35C for 10 days (4.43 log cfu/cm2) was close to the number of cells attached to coupons incubated at 35C for 1 day (4.01 log cfu/cm2). The model obtained represents well the relationship between temperature and rate of adhesion, which is indicated by the statistical indices calculated.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
This research shows important information for people dealing with food quality control, quality management, risk assessment, risk management hazard analysis by critical point control and good manufacturing practices, which are well‐recognized food safety tools. The number of manufactured foods has widely increased to meet the increasing number of consumers and, sometimes, the hygiene procedures in the food industry are poor or overlooked. It is essential that those responsible for producing food be knowledgeable about the characteristics of the material surfaces used to make the equipment, utensils and conveyors to help in the control of foodborne diseases. The viable alternatives to avoid or minimize food contamination are (1) improving surface quality related to microtopography by improving surface production process; (2) choosing surfaces with better characteristics concerning microtopography to control the adherence process and biofilm formation; and (3) implementing effective controls of cleaning and sanitizing procedures.