Cbot-PREDICTOR – Clostridium botulinum and safe cheeses

The project aims to develop a mathematical model and a tool to reliably predict no-growth conditions for microorganism Clostridium botulinum in spreadable cheeses during distribution at ambient temperature.

By: Grith Mortensen

This predictive tool will facilitate product formulation and innovation of safe spreadable cheeses. There is a need to increase processing of excess milk in Denmark into new value-added products for export to growing markets outside of 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 neurotoxin. 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.