Clostridium perfringens growth from spore inocula in sous-vide processed pork-based Mexican entrée.

The combined effect of Citricidal wih irradiation on Clostridium perfringens growth from spores in a sous-vide processed marinated pork meat Mexican entrée was investigated. Citricidal was added at 200 or 800 ppm after mixing pork meat with tomatillo sauce and inoculated with 3 log(10) CFU/g of C. perfringens spores. Samples were irradiated at either 0 or 2 kGy, heated to an internal temperature of 71 degrees C, and stored at 4 degrees C for 28 d, 15 degrees C for 45 d, and 25 degrees C for 26 h. To simulate the conditions that may occur during transportation, distribution, storage, or handling in supermarkets or by consumers, the effect of static temperature abuse on C. perfringens growth was assessed by transferring samples stored at 4 to 25 degrees C for 13 and 15 h. Total C. perfringens populations were determined by plating diluted samples on tryptose-sulfite-cycloserine agar. Growth was not observed up to 45 d of storage at 15 degrees C in samples supplemented with 800 ppm of Citricidal. At 25 degrees C, no significant differences (P > 0.05) on the lag phase duration due to antimicrobial treatments was observed. The temperature abuse of refrigerated products for up to 15 h did not lead to C. perfringens growth to high infective dose levels of 1 million cells required to cause food poisoning. The results suggest that 800 ppm Citricidal can have significant bacteriostatic activity against C. perfringens and may provide a degree of protection against this pathogen in sous-vide processed marinated pork meat Mexican entrée, under mild temperature abuse (<or= 15 degrees C) conditions.