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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2008, p. 3138-3142, Vol. 74, No. 10
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02811-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Impact of Vacuum Cooling on Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infiltration into Lettuce Tissue{triangledown}

Haiping Li,* Mehrdad Tajkarimi,{dagger} and Bennie I. Osburn

Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California

Received 12 December 2007/ Accepted 10 March 2008

Vacuum cooling is a common practice in the California leafy green industry. This study addressed the impact of vacuum cooling on the infiltration of Escherichia coli O157:H7 into lettuce as part of the risk assessment responding to the E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with leafy green produce from California. Vacuum cooling significantly increased the infiltration of E. coli O157:H7 into the lettuce tissue (2.65E+06 CFU/g) compared to the nonvacuumed condition (1.98E+05 CFU/g). A stringent surface sterilization and quadruple washing could not eliminate the internalized bacteria from lettuce. It appeared that vacuuming forcibly changed the structure of lettuce tissue such as the stomata, suggesting a possible mechanism of E. coli O157:H7 internalization. Vacuuming also caused a lower reduction rate of E. coli O157:H7 in stored lettuce leaves than that for the nonvacuumed condition.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dairy Food Safety Laboratory, Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-7745. Fax: (530) 752-5845. E-mail: hpli{at}ucdavis.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 March 2008.

{dagger} Present address: Master Program of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2008, p. 3138-3142, Vol. 74, No. 10
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02811-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kroupitski, Y., Golberg, D., Belausov, E., Pinto, R., Swartzberg, D., Granot, D., Sela, S. (2009). Internalization of Salmonella enterica in Leaves Is Induced by Light and Involves Chemotaxis and Penetration through Open Stomata. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 6076-6086 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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