1. Occurrence of Clostridium botulinum in fresh and cured fish in retail trade in Cochin (India).
- Author
-
Lalitha KV and Surendran PK
- Subjects
- Animals, Clostridium botulinum classification, Fish Products microbiology, Food Contamination, Food Microbiology, India, Prevalence, Clostridium botulinum isolation & purification, Decapoda microbiology, Fishes microbiology, Seafood microbiology
- Abstract
The occurrence of Clostridium botulinum in fresh (67) and cured fish (278) samples in retail trade in Cochin was studied. An overall prevalence of 19% (13/67) was found in fresh retail fish and types A to D were detected in the positive samples. In pelagic fish, incidence of C. botulinum was 18% (7/39) whereas in demersal fish, 21% (5/24) of the samples harboured C. botulinum. Incidence of C. botulinum in shrimp was 25% (1/4) and type D was found in the positive sample. Of 257 cured fish in retail trade tested for the presence of C. botulinum, the overall contamination level was 10% (25/257). Among the C. botulinum types A to D prevalent in fresh fish, types C and D were the predominant types found in cured products. In salt-dried shrimp, of the 21 samples analysed, 10 samples (48%) harboured C. botulinum.
- Published
- 2002
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