Anaerobic Spoilage Bacteria
Some food spoilage occurs in the absence of oxygen. This would be in the case of canned food and some foods packaged in packages that are impermeable to oxygen. Some of these microorganisms include:
• Lactobacillus viridescens
• Lactobacillus sake
• Lactobacillus curvatus
• unidentified Lactobacillus spp.
• Leuconostoc carnosum
• Leuconostoc gelidum
• Leuconostoc mesenteroides
• unidentified Leuconostoc spp.
• some Enterococcus spp.
• Alcaligenes spp.
• Enterobacter spp.
• Serratia liquifaciens
• Some Hafnia and Proteus spp., and
• Shewanella (previously Alteromonas )putrefaciens
• Some microaerophilic yeasts
Thermophilic Bacteria that Cause Food Spoilage
The bacteria in this group grow between 40 and 90◦C, with optimum growth temperatures of 55–65 ◦C. Some high-heat-processed foods are kept warm between 50 and 60◦C for a long period of time (at delis, fast-food establishments, and restaurants.
Some thermoduric vegetative bacteria survive low-heat processing (such as pasteurization). Thermophiles getting in food as post heat contamination can also multiply in these warm foods, especially if the temperature is close to 50 ◦C.