Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, Italy.
Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2023 Aug 30;89(8):e0076523. doi: 10.1128/aem.00765-23. Epub 2023 Jul 11.
Several microbial taxa have been associated with food processing facilities, and they might resist by attaching on tools and equipment even after sanitation procedures, producing biofilms that adhere to the surfaces and might embed other microorganisms, including spoilers and pathogens. There is increasing evidence that these communities can be transferred to the final product. To explore the microbial contamination routes in a facility producing ice creams, we collected foods and environmental swabs from industrial surfaces of equipment and tools and performed taxonomic and functional analyses of the microbial DNA extracted from the environmental samples. Our results suggest that complex communities dominated by psychrotrophic bacteria (e.g., Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter spp.) inhabit the food processing environment, and we demonstrate that these communities might be transferred from the surfaces to the products. Functional analysis performed on environmental samples highlighted the presence of several genes linked to antimicrobial resistance and adherence on abiotic surfaces; such genes were more abundant on food contact (FC) than on other surfaces. Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of Pseudomonas stutzeri showed genes linked with biofilm formation and motility, which are surely linked to colonizing capabilities in the processing lines. The study highlights clear potential advantages of applying microbiome mapping in the food industry for source tracking of microbial contamination and for planning appropriate sanitization strategies. Several microbial species might permanently establish in food processing facilities, thus contributing to food loss. In fact, food contact surfaces might transfer microorganisms to intermediates and products, potentially representing a hazard to human health. In this work, we provide evidence of the existence of complex microbial communities overcoming sanitation in an ice cream-producing facility. These communities harbored several genes that could potentially lead to attachment to surfaces and antimicrobial resistance. Also, prediction of routes of contamination showed that several potential spoilage taxa might end up in the final product. Importantly, in this work, we show that mapping the environmental microbiome is a high-resolution technique that might help food business operators ensure food quality and safety through detection of potentially hazardous microorganisms.
几种微生物类群与食品加工设施有关，即使在卫生程序之后，它们也可能附着在工具和设备上而存活下来，产生附着在表面的生物膜，并可能嵌入其他微生物，包括腐败菌和病原体。越来越多的证据表明，这些群落可以转移到最终产品中。为了探索生产冰淇淋的设施中的微生物污染途径，我们从设备和工具的工业表面收集食品和环境拭子，并对从环境样本中提取的微生物 DNA 进行分类和功能分析。我们的结果表明，以嗜冷菌（如假单胞菌和不动杆菌属）为主的复杂群落栖息在食品加工环境中，并且我们证明这些群落可能从表面转移到产品中。对环境样本进行的功能分析突出了存在与抗生素耐药性和在非生物表面附着有关的几个基因；这些基因在食品接触（FC）表面比在其他表面更丰富。恶臭假单胞菌的宏基因组组装基因组（MAG）显示了与生物膜形成和运动性有关的基因，这些基因肯定与在加工线中的定殖能力有关。该研究突出了在食品工业中应用微生物组图谱进行微生物污染源追踪和规划适当的消毒策略的明显优势。 几种微生物物种可能会在食品加工设施中永久定植，从而导致食物损失。事实上，食品接触表面可能会将微生物转移到中间体和产品中，这可能对人类健康构成威胁。在这项工作中，我们提供了证据表明，在一个生产冰淇淋的工厂中，复杂的微生物群落克服了卫生程序的挑战。这些群落中存在几种可能导致与表面附着和抗生素耐药性相关的基因。此外，污染途径的预测表明，几种潜在的腐败类群可能最终进入最终产品。重要的是，在这项工作中，我们表明，绘制环境微生物组图谱是一种高分辨率技术，可以通过检测潜在的有害微生物，帮助食品企业经营者确保食品质量和安全。
