Clostridioides difficile in raw mechanically separated poultry meat and pasteurized product made from contaminated meat

Biasizzo, Majda (author), Henigman, Urška (author), Avberšek, Jana (author), Jamnikar Ciglenečki, Urška (author), Grebenc, Stanka (author)

Objectives: Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is an important foodborne pathogen found in a wide range of products. This study investigated the occurrence of C. difficile in mechanically separated chicken and turkey meat (MSM) and in pasteurized products made from contaminated MSM. Methods: The presence of C. difficile was analysed in 56 MSM samples (32 from turkey and 24 from chicken) and in six pasteurized meat products made from raw meats previously identified as C. difficile-positive. After enrichment, detection was performed by real-time PCR, and culture on selective media for C. difficile. The isolated strains were then characterized by PCR-ribotyping, toxinotyping, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Results: C. difficile was detected in 16.1 % of MSM samples via real-time PCR, with a 10.7 % isolation rate. One pasteurized product also tested positive. The six isolates obtained displayed diverse PCR-ribotypes, five of which were toxigenic. Notably, the PCR-ribotypes and sequence types in the pasteurized product differed from those identified in the raw meat used for its production. Conclusions: The presence of C. difficile in raw and subsequently pasteurized meat product indicates that the pathogen can survive the pasteurization process and may be present in such products.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Clostridioides difficile, mechanically separated poultry meat, pasteurized products, food, whole-genome sequencing
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: VF - Veterinary Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 5 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 92, art. 102946
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-167765
• UDC: 636.09:577
• ISSN on article: 1095-8274
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2025.102946
• COBISS.SI-ID: 228527619
• Publication date in RUL: 11.03.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Anaerobe
• Shortened title: Anaerobe
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1095-8274
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512807480

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P4-0092
• Name: Zdravje živali, okolje in varna hrana