A stochastic model was developed for simultaneous growth of low numbers of Listeria monocytogenes and populations
of lactic acid bacteria from the aroma producing cultures applied in cottage cheese. During more than
two years, different batches of cottage cheese with aroma culturewere analysed for pH, lactic acid concentration
and initial concentration of lactic acid bacteria. These data and bootstrap sampling were used to represent product
variability in the stochasticmodel. Lag time data were estimated fromobserved growth data (lactic acid bacteria)
and from literature on L. monocytogenes single cells. These lag time data were expressed as relative lag
times and included in growth models. A stochastic model was developed from an existing deterministic growth
model including the effect of five environmental factors and inter-bacterial interaction [Østergaard, N.B, Eklöw, A
and Dalgaard, P. 2014. Modelling the effect of lactic acid bacteria from starter- and aroma culture on growth of
Listeria monocytogenes in cottage cheese. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 188, 15-25]. Growth of
L. monocytogenes single cells, using lag time distributions corresponding to three different stress levels, was
simulated. The simulated growth was subsequently compared to growth of low concentrations (0.4-1.0 CFU/g)
of L.monocytogenes in cottage cheese, exposed to similar stresses, and in general a good agreementwas observed.
In addition, growth simulations were performed using population relative lag time distributions for
L. monocytogenes as reported in literature. Comparably good predictions were obtained as for the simulations
performed using lag time data for individual cells of L. monocytogenes. Therefore, when lag time data for individual
cells are not available, itwas suggested that relative lag time distributions for L. monocytogenes can be used as
a qualified default assumption when simulating growth of low concentrations of L. monocytogenes