Fate of Escherichia coli O157 and detection of stx phage during fermentation of maize, an animal feedstuff

Aims: The fate of inoculated Escherichia coli O157, stx phages and the physico‐chemical properties of maize were studied during laboratory‐scale fermentation by naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria. Methods and Results: Before fermentation, chopped maize was inoculated with 6·2 log10 CFU g−1 of a five‐isolate mixture of E. coli O157. After fermentation, the silage contained 70·6 g kg−1 dry matter (DM) lactic acid and 12·8 g kg−1 DM acetic acid and was pH 4·0. Levels of E. coli O157 fell rapidly, and none of the five isolates could be recovered from the fermenting maize after 8 days. Using a resuscitation step did not consistently enhance recovery of E. coli O157. Stx phages were not isolated from the fermenting maize at any time. Pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) genotyping showed that E. coli O157 2975 and 64a/01 survived better than the other three isolates studied. Escherichia coli O157 isolate 1474/00 was particularly sensitive to the laboratory procedures used to harvest the inocula and contaminate the maize. Some colonies recovered during the fermentation had one to three band alterations compared with the initial PFGE genotypes. Significance and Impact of the Study: None of the five different E. coli O157 genotypes survived maize fermentation. Fermentation of maize produces an animal feedstuff that is unlikely to contain E. coli O157 or stx phages.