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Foodborne Illness
Published in Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell, Living with the Earth, 2018
Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell
Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic spore-forming bacteria found in soil and the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. C. perfringens grows at temperatures between 20°C and 50°C. In optimum conditions (45°C) with the right media, C. perfringens can double its numbers in as little as 8–10 minutes, making it the fastest-growing bacteria known.48
Risk factors for food poisoning among self-catering university students
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2022
France Ncube, Artwell Kanda, Desmond Muzeketwa, Victoria Chiripamberi, M’Cleans Madondo
The current study highlighted that a substantial proportion of self-catering university students prepared meals in advance and commonly stored prepared food at room temperature. Cooked foods (meat, poultry, and fish) that are held at non-refrigerated temperatures for long periods of time can cause Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) food poisoning (Marriott and Gravani 2006). On the other hand, a review of salmonellosis cases in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) reported that holding of foods at room temperature for >2 h was the main cause of salmonellosis outbreaks (Coastalunga and Tondo 2002). Therefore, to reduce the risk of salmonellosis and C. perfringens illness, we recommend that self-catering students should not store prepared foods at room temperature for >2 h. Rather, they should either prepare small amounts of food that they can consume immediately and finish or promptly refrigerate all unconsumed cooked food. Frozen storage of foods at –15°C for 35 days destroys over 99.9% of C. perfringens (Marriott and Gravani 2006). Consequently, we propose that where food (e.g. meat, poultry, and fish) has to be stored for a long period of time, it should be kept frozen (at a temperature of −15°C) to reduce the risk of C. perfringens food poisoning. In addition, leftover foods should be reheated to a temperature ≥65°C to destroy the vegetative form of C. perfringens (Marriott and Gravani 2006).