Françoise Leroi
Ifremer, France
Title: Use of bioprotective bacteria to guaranty quality and safety of seafood products
Biography
Biography: Françoise Leroi
Abstract
Around 10 to 20% of all outbreaks are attributed to seafood. For indigenous bacteria (Clostridium botulinum, Vibrio spp., Aeromonas, Listeria monocytogenes, histamine-producing bacteria…), the hazard concern (i) fresh or lightly preserved products in which the growth of those bacteria is possible and which are eaten raw or insufficiently cooked ; (ii) Scombroid and Clupeid fish stored at abuse temperature ; (iii) shellfish which concentrate the bacteria and virus during their filter feeding. Other micro-organisms such as Salmonella, Shigella, Echerichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus… can be introduced in the aquatic environment or during post harvest handling and processing. Beside this short review, the biopreservation technology will be presented. Biopreservation is a method of preserving food using microorganisms, which are thus called protective cultures (PCs). This technology consists of inoculating a food with a non-pathogenic microorganism, selected to prevent the development of other undesirable microbes and thus guaranty its safety and quality. LAB are good candidates for biopreservation because (i) they have many natural antibacterial properties (ii) they are part of the common flora of many foods; (iii) they are recognized as non-hazardous to human health; (iv) they benefit from a healthy image conveyed to consumers by dairy products. This talk will present the strategy of protective culture selection, the mechanisms of action, the regulation context and examples of application in seafood, especially for prevention of risk associated to spoiling bacteria, histamine-producing bacteria and L. monocytogenes.