Foodborne botulism is a serious disease resulting from ingestion of preformed Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin in foodstuff. Since the 19^th century, the heat resistance of this spore forming bacteria has been studied in order to guarantee the public health associated with low acidic, ambient stable products. However, still nowadays, Clostridium botulinumremains an emerging issue. Indeed, there is a consumer demand for high-quality, preservative-free foods that require little preparation time. In particular, to increase the quality (taste, nutrition value, texture), the food manufacturers tend to reduce the thermal treatment of their products.

The symposium will begin with a short introduction on C. botulinum, including both proteolytic and non-proteolytic C. botulinum, and on the approaches used to control this pathogen in a large variety of foods. The next presentation will consider the safety of minimally heated chilled foods with respect to non-proteolytic C. botulinum, and the advancements that have been made using quantitative risk assessment. Then, an example of nitrite level reduction in processed meat products will be presented and more generally, the potential application of fermentates to inhibit the growth of C. botulinum will be discussed. Finally, a quantitative risk assessment of proteolytic C. botulinum in canned foie gras in France will be introduced. The model outputs have been interpreted into a risk-based food safety management perspective. This work illustrates that despite receiving a mild heat treatment, this canned product does not present any public health risk.

Presentations