[The role of food in cholera transmission].

The spreading of cholera, from Peru to other Latinoamerican countries in 1991, raised questions regarding food safety, food transportation and handling. Control, prevention and risks implied in food import-export were also matters of concern. We deemed it interesting to determine the viability of Vibrio cholerae in wide consumption food locally. Selected food had different intrinsic characteristics such as: acidity (pH), water activity (aw), chemical composition, indigenous flora and other biologic and physic parameters. Twenty food products were contaminated with V. cholerae O1, Ogawa, toxigenic and not toxigenic strains: yoghurt, cream cheese, apricot marmelade, hip rose marmelade, mayonnaise, italian pasta for "empanadas", "dulce de leche", meat sausage, meat and spinach ravioli, margarine, milk dessert (made with cocoa, milk confiture, starch and additives), lettuce, tuna fish, ricotta and sterilized milk. Table I shows the viability of V. cholerae in tested foods, its pH and the reasons why the experiments were ended: 75% of the products studied could tolerate the development of the microorganism for a period ranging from one day (pasta for "empanadas") to ninety days (sterilized milk). Foods with acredity higher than pH 5.5 did not favor the growth of Vibrio. When pH was neutral or slightly acid, viability persisted independently from aw, microbial antagonisms and other physic, chemical or biologic parameters. Nevertheless, other factors such as: surface adherence, amino acids, magnesium and environmental influences not yet well determined, could eventually modify the persistence of V. cholerae in food. According to this study, most food products could tolerate growth and persistence of the infectant agent, up for three months in some cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)