English-style crumpets (pH 6--8, aw 0.97--0.99) are a popular baked product enjoyed by consumers worldwide. However, over the past few years, outbreaks of food poisoning have been caused by the growth of Bacillus cereus in crumpets. This spore forming microorganism, which originates in flour, can easily survive the baking process and grow to >106 CFU/g within 3--5 days at ambient storage temperature. Therefore, control of this pathogen is essential to ensure the safety and marketability of English-style crumpets. / Initial studies were done to determine the effect of water activity ( aw), pH, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), UV-light, bacteriocins, organic acids and esters, alone and in conjunction with each other, on the growth of B. cereus in model broth/agar systems. / B. cereus is a difficult microorganism to control in food using conventional preservation methods. Further studies are now under way to investigate novel methods to control the growth of this pathogen, particularly in high pH crumpets. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31226 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | El-Khoury, Wassim. |
| Contributors | Smith, J. P. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001810903, proquestno: MQ70421, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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