Natural Science Forum / Biology / Microbiology / January 2005

Nadia,

I really don't think you can process choclate with high enough temperature
to ensure the complete destruction of all Salmonella spp. One reason is the
fat contens in the product, the other is the hygiene one often see at such
production facilities.

Why don't you turn the question a bit, and find out how to ensure that the
bacteria don't come in to your production facility? One of the most
important things to avoid is birds, mice, rats, cats and other animals in
the production faclilities. Be sure your raw materials are checked for
Salmonella. Birds was the cause of the biggest Salmonella outbreak in Norway
ever (some 15 years ago), where they contaminated a chocolate factory.

Further it is important that your employees dont work with foods after they
have been sick, especially with diarrhea, wiothout having a stool sample
checked for Salmonella.

With normal pasteurization and the above precautions you probably get most
of the work done. Then you should take samples for analysis of Salmonella
spp on a regular basis. Just make sure you use a qualified laboratory!
Analysis of Salmonella in chocolate is quite difiicult, and require special
pre treatment of the samples.

Good luck,

Roy Markussen
Tech. advicer
VestfoldLAB AS, Norway