Ability of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. to survive in a desiccation model system in dry foods

The survival of 58 diarrheagenic strains and of 15 nonpathogenic Escherichia coli strains are determined after drying at 35 degree Celsius for 24 h in paper disks to determine desiccation tolerances of bacterial strains. The effects of pH, food ingredients such as sucrose, storage period, and storage temperature are examined and the survival of these desiccated bacteria in selected dry foods after artificial inoculation are studied.