Changes of Indicator Microorganisms and Pathogenic Bacteria in Spinach during Cook-Chill Process

Spinach minimally processed using cook-chill and sous vide techniques was vacuum-packed in low gas permeable plastic film, pasteurized at for 2 min, cooled rapidly at , and stored at 3 and . Contents of mesophilic bacteria, psychrophilic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, spore-forming bacteria, total coliforms, yeast and molds, fecal Streptococcus, and Enterobacteriacea were measared to identify the degree of food contamination. Number of mesophilic bacteria, detected at in raw spinish, decreased to about after cook-chill process. During the storage at 3 or , levels of mesophilic, psychrophilic and anaerobic bacteria increased, whereas total coliforms, yeast and molds, fecal Streptococcus, and Enterobacteriacea were not detected. Twelve strains of Aeromonas hydphila, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Plesiomonas shigelloides, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Bacillus cereus, Campylococcus spp., Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus were examined for detecting the presence of pathogenic bacteria in spinach. B. cereus and C. perfringens were isolated from raw, washed, and cook-chilled spinach, whereas A. hydrophila was isolated only from washed spinach. S. aureus was isolated from raw and washed spinach, but not from cook-chilled spinach. Other pathogenic organisms were not detected in raw, washed, and cook-chilled spinach.