Clostridium botulinum and safe cheeses

The project aims to develop a mathematical model and a tool to reliably predict no-growth conditions for the important pathogenic microorganism Clostridium botulinum in spreadable cheeses during distribution at ambient temperature. This predictive tool will facilitate product formulation and innovation of safe spreadable cheeses. There is an urgent need to increase processing of excess milk in Denmark into new value-added products for export to growing markets outside Europe. Innovation is needed and the project contributes to flexible product development and reduced time-to-market for new spreadable cheeses. Studies of C. botulinum in food are costly and time consuming due to its formation of a very potent neuro-toxin. A new approach is applied and non-toxigenic mutants of C. botulinum are constructed within the present project and then used to develop a growth and growth-boundary model. The project includes two research groups with complementary skills and close collaboration with the Danish dairy sector.