Sources of microorganisms found in foods
Dr. Chhaya Sawant
Sources of microorganisms found in foods
Microorganisms, in relation to food, can have one of these 3 roles:
• Pathogenic microorganisms can cause infections or intoxications
• Saprophytic microorganism play a role in biodegradation and cause food spoilage
• Cultured microorganisms like probiotic bacteria are used in food processing.
Some of the important genera known to occur in foods
Acinetobacter Erwinia Proteus
Aeromonas Escherichia Pseudomonas
Alcaligenes Flavobacterium Psychrobacter
Arcobacter Hafnia Salmonella
Bacillus Kocuria Serratia
Brevibacillus Lactococcus Shewanella
Brochothrix Lactobacillus Shigella
Burkholderia Leuconostoc Sphingomonas
Campylobacter Listeria Stenotrophomonas
Carnobacterium Micrococcus Staphylococcus
Citrobacter Moraxella Vagococcus
Clostridium Paenibacillus Vibrio
Corynebacterium Pandoraea Weissella
Enterobacter Pantoea Yersinia
Enterococcus Pediococcus
Molds
Alternaria Colletotrichum Penicillium
Aspergillus Fusarium Rhizopus
Aureobasidium geotrichum Trichothecium
Botrytis Monilia Wallemia
Byssochlamys Mucor Xeromyces
Cladosporium
Yeasts
Brettanomyces/Dekkera Issatchenkia Schizosaccharomyces
Candida Kluyveromyces Torulaspora
Cryptococcus Pichia Trichosporon
Debaryomyces Rhodotorula Yarrowia
Hanseniaspora Saccharomyces Zygosaccharomyces
Protozoa
Cryptosporidium parvum Entamoeba histolytica Toxoplasma gondii
Cyclospora cayetanensis Giardia lamblia
Sources of microorganisms found in foods
Dr. Chhaya Sawant
PRIMARY SOURCES OF MICROORGANISMS FOUND IN FOODS
Keep in mind that there are other microorganisms like viruses, parasites, fungi, etc., that are
able to contaminate food and cause food borne illnesses in animals and humans. Bacteria can
be found virtually everywhere including humans and can enter food products through
different routes. The following list outlines some of the most common ways in which
microorganisms enter food products.
1) Soil : Soil, especially the type used to grow agricultural produce and raise animals and birds,
contains several varieties of microorganisms. Because microorganisms can multiply in soil,
their numbers can be very high (billions/g). Many types of moulds, yeasts, and bacterial
genera (e.g., Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Proteus, Micrococcus, Enterococcus, Bacillus, and
Clostridium) can enter foods from the soil. Soil contaminated with faecal materials can be the
source of enteric pathogenic bacteria and viruses in food. Sediments where fish and marine
foods are harvested can also be a source of microorganisms, including pathogens, in those
foods. Different types of parasites can also get in food from soil.
2) Water : Water is used to produce, process, and, under certain conditions, store foods. It is
used for irrigation of crops, drinking by food animals and birds, raising fishery and marine
products, washing foods, processing (pasteurization, canning, and cooling of heated foods)
and storage of foods (e.g., fish on ice), washing and sanitation of equipment, and processing
and transportation facilities. Water is also used as an ingredient in many processed foods.
Thus, water quality can greatly influence microbial quality of foods. Contamination of foods
with pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites from water has been recorded.
3) Air and Dust : Microorganisms are present in dust and moisture droplets in the air. They
do not grow in dust, but are transient and variable, depending on the environment. Their level
is controlled by the degree of humidity, size and level of dust particles, temperature and air
velocity, and resistance of microorganisms to drying.
Spores of Bacillus spp., Clostridium spp., and molds, and cells of some Gram-positive bacteria
(e.g., Micrococcus spp. and Sarcina spp.), as well as yeasts, can be predominantly present in
air. If the surroundings contain a source of pathogens, (e.g., animal and poultry farms or a
sewage-treatment plant), different types of bacteria, including pathogens and viruses
(including bacteriophages) can be transmitted via the air.
4) Plants (fruits and vegetables) : The inside tissue of foods from plant sources are essentially
sterile, except for a few porous vegetables (e.g., radishes and onions) and leafy vegetables.
(e.g., cabbage and Brussels sprouts) Some plants produce natural antimicrobial metabolites
that can limit the presence of microorganisms.
Fruits and vegetables harbour microorganisms on the surface; their type and level vary with
soil condition, type of fertilizers and water used, and air quality.
Sources of microorganisms found in foods
Dr. Chhaya Sawant
MoIds, yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and bacteria from genera Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes,
Micrococcus, Erwinia, Bacillus, Clostridium. and Enterobacter can be expected from this
source. Pathogens, especially of enteric types (Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter,
Shigella, Cyclospora, Giardia), can be present if the soil is contaminated with untreated
sewage. Diseases of the plants, damage of the surface (before, during, and after harvest), long
delay between harvesting and washing, and unfavourable storage and transport conditions
after harvesting and before processing can greatly increase microbial numbers as well as
predominant types. Improper storage conditions following processing can also increase their
numbers.
5) Animals, birds, fish, and shellfish : Food animals, birds, Laying birds normally carry many
types of indigenous microorganisms in the digestive, respiratory, and urogenital tracts, the
teat canal in the udder, as well as in the skin, hooves, hair, and feathers. Many, as carriers,
can harbour pathogens such as Salmonella serovars. pathogenic Escherichia coli,
Campylobacter jejuni. Yersinia enterocolitica, and Listeria monocytogenes without showing
symptoms.
Disease situations, such as mastitis in cows and intestinal, respiratory, and uterine infections,
as well as injury, poor husbandry resulting in faecal contamination on the body surface (skin.
hair, feathers, and udder) and supplying contaminated water and feed (e.g., contaminated
with salmonellae).
Fish and shellfish also carry normal microfiora in the scales, skin, and digestive tracts. Water
quality, feeding habits, and diseases may carry pathogens such as, Vibrio parahaemolyticus,
Vib. vuinijicus, and Vib. Milk can be contaminated with faecal materials on the udder surface,
egg shells with faecal material during laying, meat with the intestinal contents during
slaughtering, and fish with intestinal contents during processing.
In addition to enteric pathogens from fecal materials, meat from food animals and birds can
be contaminated with several spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms from skin, hair, and
feathers, namely Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus spp., Propionibacterium spp.,
Corynebacterium spp., and moulds and yeasts.
6) Food Handlers : The microbiota on the hands and outer garments of handlers generally
reflect the environment and habits of individuals, and the organisms in question may be those
from soil, water, dust, and other environmental sources.
Additional important sources are those that are common in nasal cavities, the mouth, and on
the skin, and those from the gastrointestinal tract that may enter foods through poor personal
hygiene practices.
7) Food ingredients : In prepared or fabricated foods, many ingredients or additives can be
the source of both spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Various spices generally have
very high populations of mould and bacterial spores. Starch, sugar and flour might have
spores of thermophilic bacteria. Pathogens have been isolated from dried coconut, egg, and
Sources of microorganisms found in foods
Dr. Chhaya Sawant
chocolate. The ingredients should be produced under sanitary conditions and given
antimicrobial treatments.
In addition, setting up acceptable microbial specifications for the ingredients will be
important in reducing microorganisms in food from this source.
8) Food Utensils : When vegetables are harvested in containers and utensils, one would
expect to find some or all of the surface organisms on the products to contaminate contact
surfaces.
As more and more vegetables are placed in the same containers, a normalization of the
microbiota would be expected to occur.
In a similar way, the cutting block in a meat market along with cutting knives and grinders are
contaminated from initial samples, and this process leads to a build-up of organisms, thus
ensuring a fairly constant level of contamination of meat-borne organisms.
9) Equipment : A wide variety of equipment are used in harvesting, transporting.
Slaughtering, processing, and storing foods. Many types of microorganisms from air, raw
foods, water, and personnel can get into the equipment and contaminate foods. When
processing equipment is used continuously for a long period of time, microorganisms initially
present can multiply and act as a continuous source of contamination in the product produced
subsequently. In some equipment, small parts, inaccessible sections, and certain materials
might not be efficiently cleaned and sanitized.
Small equipment, such as cutting boards, knives, spoons, and similar articles, because of
improper cleaning, can be sources of cross contamination. Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia,
Enterococcus, Micrococcus, Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Clostriditinl, Bacillus
spp., and yeasts and moulds can get in food from equipment
10) Globalization of food supply : This is a major factor of contamination resulting in transfer
of pathogenic agents between countries (import/export) such as Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE) infective agent and Salmonella Typhimurium DT104, among others.
With the increase in international travel this imposes a risk of introducing newer pathogens
across the country.
11) Terrorist attacks : There are growing concern in the food industry that terrorist could use
pathogens to contaminate food and water supplies in attempt to disrupt the economy, health,
and lifestyle among others.
