IFR Develops New Method for Detecting Clostridium Botulinum Spores

The Institute of Food Research has collaborated in the development of a new method for detecting spores of non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum, the major health hazard associated with refrigerated
convenience foods. Food production incorporates practices and risk assessments based on the latest scientific information, such as spore heat resistance, growth properties of non- proteolytic C. botulinum, and the incidence of these spores in food; this new method is providing high quality and specific information on the incidence of non-proteolytic C. botulinum spores in food only.

Some previous techniques were not optimised to distinguish between non- proteolytic C. botulinum, which will produce spores and toxin at 30C and proteolytic C. botulinum which will not grow at temperatures below 120C. The new method is also very sensitive with a low detection limit that has been achieved by the use of a selective enrichment and large test samples, and importantly this has
been confirmed using carefully structured control samples.

Developed as a collaboration between the Nestlé Research Centre, Switzerland and IFR, an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) this robust method can provide the data the food industry needs for quantitative microbial risk analysis and the implementation of food safety objectives. This allows the total risk from spores of non- proteolytic C. botulinum in the final meal to be calculated. Modelling the risk of this total spore count rising above safe levels and the frequency that this event occurs will allow the management and control of the process more accountably.