ORCID
- Leonard Koolman: 0000-0001-8438-8396
Abstract
Blown pack spoilage (BPS) occurs when meat is cross-contaminated with Clostridium estertheticum or Clostridium gasigenes spores, often from the meat processing environment. This study tested the efficacy of four sporicidal disinfectants commonly used in beef processing plants against C. estertheticum and C. gasigenes spores in a suspension test. D-values were obtained under model ‘clean’ (sterile distilled water, SDW) and ‘dirty’ (3 g/L bovine serum albumin, BSA) conditions. Mean concentration (log10 CFU/mL) were calculated from direct counts. The levels of dipicolinic acid (DPA), indicating damage to the core of these spores, was also monitored using a terbium (Tb)-DPA assay for treatment 1 (peracetic acid as the active ingredient) in SDW and BSA. In SDW sporicidal treatment 3 (containing peroxymonosulphate) was the most effective against C. estertheticum spores but under ‘dirty’ (BSA) conditions sporicidal treatments 1 and 2 were more effective. A similar pattern was obtained with C. gasigenes with treatment 3 being the most effective in SDW but treatment 2 (sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient) being more effective in BSA. The lower DPA concentrations obtained in SDW versus BSA demonstrated the protective effect of organic matter. It was concluded that meat processors should use a 5% formulation containing sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide and alkylamine oxide to eliminate BPS Clostridial spores in the abattoir.
Keywords
Blown pack spoilage, Clostridium estertheticum, Clostridium gasigenes, Spores, Sporicidal agents
DOI Link
Publication Date
2022-02-05
Publication Title
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume
12
Issue
3
Deposit Date
2026-07-17
Funding
Funding: This work was funded by Meat Technology Ireland, a Technology Centre co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and a consortium of beef and sheep meat processors and the Teagasc Walsh Scholarship scheme in a collaborative project with AgResearch New Zealand.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional Links
Recommended Citation
Esteves, Eden; Koolman, Leonard; Whyte, Paul; Gupta, Tanushree B.; and Bolton, Declan, "An Evaluation of Sporicidal Treatments against Blown Pack Spoilage Associated Clostridium estertheticum and Clostridium gasigenes Spores" (2022). Research Outputs: 2025-Present. 26.
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/schbiosro/26