History of Microorganisms in Food 1878—Cienkowski reported the first microbiological study of sugar slimes and isolated Leuconostoc mesenteroides from them 1887—Forster was the first to demonstrate the ability of pure cultures of bacteria to grow at 0◦ C 1888—Miquel was the first to study thermophilic bacteria 1895—The first records on the determination of numbers of bacteria in milk were those of Von Geuns in Amsterdam —S.C Prescott and W Underwood traced the spoilage of canned corn to improper heat processing for the first time 1902—The term psychrophile was first used by Schmidt-Nielsen for microorganisms that grow at 0◦ C 1912—The term osmophile was coined by Richter to describe yeasts that grow well in an environment of high osmotic pressure 1915—Bacillus coagulans was first isolated from coagulated milk by B.W Hammer 1917—Geobacillus stearothermophilus was first isolated from cream-style corn by P.J Donk 1933—Oliver and Smith in England observed spoilage by Byssochlamys fulva; first described in the United States in 1964 by D Maunder Food Poisoning 1820—The German poet Justinus Kerner described “sausage poisoning” (which in all probability was botulism) and its high fatality rate 1857—Milk was incriminated as a transmitter of typhoid fever by W Taylor of Penrith, England 1870—Francesco Selmi advanced his theory of ptomaine poisoning to explain illness contracted by eating certain foods 1888—Gaertner first isolated Salmonella enteritidis from meat that had caused 57 cases of food poisoning 1894—T Denys was the first to associate staphylococci with food poisoning 1896—Van Ermengem first discovered Clostridium botulinum 1904—Type A strain of C botulinum was identified by G Landman 1906—Bacillus cereus food poisoning was recognized The first case of diphyllobothriasis was recognized 1926—The first report of food poisoning by streptococci was made by Linden, Turner, and Thom 1937—Type E strain of C botulinum was identified by L Bier and E Hazen 1937—Paralytic shellfish poisoning was recognized 1938—Outbreaks of Campylobacter enteritis were traced to milk in Illinois 1939—Gastroenteritis caused by Yersinia enterocolitica was first recognized by Schleifstein and Coleman 1945—McClung was the first to prove the etiologic status of Clostridium perfringens (welchii) in food poisoning 1951—Vibrio parahaemolyticus was shown to be an agent of food poisoning by T Fujino of Japan 1955—Similarities between cholera and Escherichia coli gastroenteritis in infants were noted by S Thompson —Scombroid (histamine-associated) poisoning was recognized —The first documented case of anisakiasis occurred in the United States 1960—Type F strain of C botulinum identified by Moller and Scheibel —The production of aflatoxins by Aspergillus flavus was first reported 8 Modern Food Microbiology 1965—Foodborne giardiasis was recognized 1969—C perfringens enterotoxin was demonstrated by C.L Duncan and D.H Strong —C botulinum type G was first isolated in Argentina by Gimenez and Ciccarelli 1971—First U.S foodborne outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus gastroenteritis occurred in Maryland —First documented outbreak of E coli foodborne gastroenteritis occurred in the United States 1975—Salmonella enterotoxin was demonstrated by L.R Koupal and R.H Deibel 1976—First U.S foodborne outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica gastroenteritis occurred in New York —Infant botulism was first recognized in California 1977—The first documented outbreak of cyclosporiasis occurred in Papua, New Guinea; first in United States in 1990 1978—Documented foodborne outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by the Norwalk virus occurred in Australia 1979—Foodborne gastroenteritis caused by non-01 Vibrio cholerae occurred in Florida Earlier outbreaks occurred in Czechoslovakia (1965) and Australia (1973) 1981—Foodborne listeriosis outbreak was recognized in the United States 1982—The first outbreaks of foodborne hemorrhagic colitis occurred in the United States 1983—Campylobacter jejuni enterotoxin was described by Ruiz-Palacios et al 1985—The irradiation of pork to 0.3 to 1.0 kGy to control Trichinella spiralis was approved in the United States 1986—Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was first diagnosed in cattle in the United Kingdom Food Legislation 1890—The first national meat inspection law was enacted It required the inspection of meats for export only 1895—The previous meat inspection act was amended to strengthen its provisions 1906—The U.S Federal Food and Drug Act was passed by Congress 1910—The New York City Board of Health issued an order requiring the pasteurization of milk 1939—The new Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act became law 1954—The Miller Pesticide Chemicals Amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed by Congress 1957—The U.S Compulsory Poultry and Poultry Products law was enacted 1958—The Food Additives Amendment to the Food Drug, and Cosmetics Act was passed 1962—The Talmadge-Aiken Act (allowing for federal meat inspection by states) was enacted into law 1963—The U.S Food and Drug Administration approved the use of irradiation for the preservation of bacon 1967—The U.S Wholesome Meat Act was passed by Congress and enacted into law on December 15 1968—The Food and Drug Administration withdrew its 1963 approval of irradiated bacon —The Poultry Inspection Bill was signed into law 1969—The U.S Food and Drug Administration established an allowable level of 20 ppb of aflatoxin for edible grains and nuts 1973—The state of Oregon adopted microbial standards for fresh and processed retail meat They were repealed in 1977 History of Microorganisms in Food REFERENCES 10 11 12 Bishop, P.W 1978 Who introduced the tin can? Nicolas Appert? Peter Durand? Bryan Donkin? Food Technol 32:60–67 Brandly, P.J., G Migaki, and K.E Taylor 1966 Meat Hygiene, 3rd ed., chap Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger Cowell, N.D 1995 Who introduced the tin can?—A new candidate Food Technol 49:61–64 Farrer, K.T.H 1979 Who invented the brine bath?—The Isaac Solomon myth Food Technol 33:75–77 Goldblith, S.A 1971 A condensed history of the science and technology of thermal processing Food Technol 25:44–50 Jensen, L.B 1953 Man’s Foods, chaps 1, 4, 12 Champaign, IL: Garrard Press Livingston, G.E., and J.P Barbier 1999 The life and work of Nicolas Appert, 1749–1841 Abstract # 7-1, p 10, Institute of Food Technol Proceedings Pederson, C.S 1971 Microbiology of Food Fermentations Westport, CT: AVI Schormăuller, J 1966 Die Erhaltung der Lebensmittel Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag Stewart, G.F., and M.A Amerine 1973 Introduction to Food Science and Technology, chap New York: Academic Press Tanner, F.W 1944 The Microbiology of Foods, 2nd ed Champaign, IL: Garrard Press Tanner, F.W., and L.P Tanner 1953 Food-Borne Infections and Intoxications, 2nd ed Champaign, IL: Garrard Press Chapter Taxonomy, Role, and Significance of Microorganisms in Foods Because human food sources are of plant and animal origin, it is important to understand the biological principles of the microbial biota associated with plants and animals in their natural habitats and respective roles Although it sometimes appears that microorganisms are trying to ruin our food sources by infecting and destroying plants and animals, including humans, this is by no means their primary role in nature In our present view of life on this planet, the primary function of microorganisms in nature is self-perpetuation During this process, the heterotrophs and autotrophs carry out the following general reaction: All organic matter (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, etc.) ↓ Energy + Inorganic compounds (nitrates, sulfates, etc.) This, of course, is essentially nothing more than the operation of the nitrogen cycle and the cycle of other elements The microbial spoilage of foods may be viewed simply as an attempt by the food biota to carry out what appears to be their primary role in nature This should not be taken in the teleological sense In spite of their simplicity when compared to higher forms, microorganisms are capable of carrying out many complex chemical reactions essential to their perpetuation To this, they must obtain nutrients from organic matter, some of which constitutes our food supply If one considers the types of microorganisms associated with plant and animal foods in their natural states, one can then predict the general types of microorganisms to be expected on this particular food product at some later stage in its history Results from many laboratories show that untreated foods may be expected to contain varying numbers of bacteria, molds, or yeasts, and the question often arises as to the safety of a given food product based on total microbial numbers The question should be twofold: What is the total number of microorganisms present per gram or milliliter and what types of organisms are represented in this number? It is necessary to know which organisms are associated with a particular food in its natural state and which of the organisms present are not normal for that particular food It is, therefore, of value to know the general distribution of bacteria in nature and the general types of organisms normally present under given conditions where foods are grown and handled 13 14 Modern Food Microbiology BACTERIAL TAXONOMY Many changes have taken place in the classification or taxonomy of bacteria in the past two decades Many of the new taxa have been created as a result of the employment of molecular genetic methods, alone or in combination with some of the more traditional methods: DNA homology and mol% G + C content of DNA 23S, 16S, and 5S rRNA sequence similarities Oligonucleotide cataloging Numerical taxonomic analysis of total soluble proteins or of a battery of morphological and biochemical characteristics Cell wall analysis Serological profiles Cellular fatty acid profiles Although some of these have been employed for many years (e.g., cell wall analysis and serological profiles) others (e.g., ribosomal RNA [rRNA] sequence similarity) came into wide use only during the 1980s The methods that are the most powerful as bacterial taxonomic tools are outlined and briefly discussed below rRNA Analyses Taxonomic information can be obtained from RNA in the production of nucleotide catalogs and the determination of RNA sequence similarities First, the prokaryotic ribosome is a 70S (Svedberg) unit, which is composed of two separate functional subunits: 50S and 30S The 50S subunit is composed of 23S and 5S RNA in addition to about 34 proteins, whereas the 30S subunit is composed of 16S RNA plus about 21 proteins The 16S subunit is highly conserved and is considered to be an excellent chronometer of bacteria over time.53 Using reverse transcriptase, 16S rRNA can be sequenced to produce long stretches (about 95% of the total sequence) to allow for the determination of precise phylogenetic relationships.31 Alternatively, the 16S rDNA may be sequenced after amplification of specific regions by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods To sequence 16S rRNA, a single-stranded DNA copy is made by use of reverse transcriptase with the RNA as template When the single-stranded DNA is made in the presence of dideoxynucleotides, ...8 Modern Food Microbiology 1 965 —Foodborne giardiasis was recognized 1 969 —C perfringens enterotoxin was demonstrated by C.L Duncan and D.H Strong —C botulinum type G was first isolated in Argentina... passed by Congress and enacted into law on December 15 1 968 —The Food and Drug Administration withdrew its 1 963 approval of irradiated bacon —The Poultry Inspection Bill was signed into law 1 969 —The... K.E Taylor 1 966 Meat Hygiene, 3rd ed. , chap Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger Cowell, N.D 1995 Who introduced the tin can?—A new candidate Food Technol 49 :61 ? ?64 Farrer, K.T.H 1979 Who invented the brine