Toxin production and growth of pathogens subjected to temperature fluctuations simulating consumer handling of cold cuts

• Domestic handling exposed cold cuts for ≥ 26.5 °C for up to a mean of 116 min daily.
• Temperature loggings can be a valuable method to study food handling by consumers.
• A food model was stored at refrigerator temperatures and exposed for daily ‘meals’.
• ≤ 2 h daily at 25 °C did not promote toxin formation, but the cell numbers increased.
• Modeling programs can predict pathogen growth but cannot predict toxin production.

It is crucial for the quality and safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods to maintain the cold chain from production to consumption. The effect of temperature abuse related to daily meals and elevated refrigerator temperatures on the growth and toxin production of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus weihenstephanensis and Staphylococcus aureus and the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica was studied. A case study with temperature loggings in the domestic environment during Easter and Christmas holidays was performed to select relevant time and temperature courses. A model for bacterial surface growth on food using nutrient agar plates exposed to variations in temperatures was used to simulate food stored at different temperatures and exposed to room temperature for short periods of time. The results were compared with predicted growth using the modeling tool ComBase Predictor.The consumers exposed their cold cuts to room temperatures as high as 26.5 °C with an average duration of meals was 47 min daily for breakfast/brunch during the vacations. Short (≤ 2 h) daily intervals at 25 °C nearly halved the time the different pathogens needed to reach levels corresponding to the levels associated with human infection or intoxication, compared with the controls continuously stored at refrigerator temperature. Although the temperature fluctuations affected growth of both B. weihenstephanensis and S. aureus, toxin production was only detected at much higher cell concentrations than what has been associated with human intoxications. Therefore, growth of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica was found to be the limiting factor for safety. In combination with data on temperature abuse in the domestic environment, modeling programs such as ComBase Predictor can be efficient tools to predict growth of some pathogens but will not predict toxin production.