Would You Expect “Salmonella typhimurium” to Survive Very Long In Peanut Butter?
All kinds of typical processing techniques offer microbial protection: heating, freezing, blanching, sterilization, curing and preservatives (like nitrate). Not sure what peanut butter is subjected to, but surely, at least one or two of these would be involved in its’ manufacturing. From the little I’ve read, it seems, Salmonella Typhimurium is known to have low survivability (but, high immunogenicity). It may very well be that not much if any would survive processing. On the other hand, preservation techniques ARE becoming milder in response to the consumers’ demands for “organic” or higher quality items. Microorganisms like Salmonella, have the potential to adapt to a wide variety of mild stresses which would then lead to a big mess: cross-protection against other stresses. So, the use of mild stresses could lead to selection of more resistant strains that would better survive in the food product with the used preservation techniques. In June 2001 there was a large outbreak of S. Typ
