Survival of Salmonella eastbourne and Salmonella typhimurium in milk chocolate prepared with artificially contaminated milk powder

Abstract

Milk chocolate mass containing salmonellas was prepared by mixing artificially contaminated milk powder with the other ingredients at a temperature of about 40 degrees C. From this mass bars were made. Two series were prepared, with S. eastbourne and S. typhimurium respectively. The number of surviving salmonellas was counted after various periods of storage, up to 19 months. S. eastbourne was reduced in numbers during 19 months from an initial count of ca. 3 x 10(4) to ca. 3 x 10(2) per 100 g of chocolate. S. typhimurium died off more rapidly, and was not detectable in about 55 g after 15 months, in spite of an initial count of ca. 10(5) per 100 g.In these experiments the salmonellas in the milk powder had had to survive the spraying procedure and the adverse conditions in the dried powder. This may be the reason why S. eastbourne showed a distinctly better survival on storage than the same serotype showed in previous experiments in which the organism was added as a broth culture to the chocolate mix. With S. typhimurium, however, such a difference was hardly detectable.Possible explanations of these results are discussed.