Modification of the method for detection of bacteria of the genus Cronobacter in dry products for infant nutrition

Recently, there has been growing concern about contamination of dry foods for infants with the bacteria of the Cronobacter genus (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii), since its ingestion during feeding can lead to severe health problems, including disability in certain categories of this age group. The development of methods for Cronobacter spp. detection with high sensitivity and resolution is an urgent task due to the growing need for foods for infant artificial feeding. <b>The aim</b> of the study was to compare methodological approaches to the detection of Cronobacter spp. in dry foods for the nutrition of infants and to propose an optimized scheme for the isolation and identification of the pathogen. <b>Material and methods</b>. A comparative analysis of the literature and current methods (international and regional) for the detection of Cronobacter spp. (and in particular C. sakazakii) in dry foods for infants was carried out. The search was performed using the following databases: Russian Science Citation Index, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, the "TekhExpert" Russian information system, as well as on the websites of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) using the keywords: Cronobacter spp., Enterobacter sakazakii. <b>Results</b>. Methodological approaches have been substantiated that make it possible to conduct studies of dry foods for infant nutrition (including formulas) with a greater degree of efficiency and reliability for the presence of Cronobacter spp.: an increase in cultivation time at the stage of non-selective enrichment by 33%; the use of two differential diagnostic media and two temperature cultivation modes at the stage of culture isolation. <b>Conclusion</b>. It is suggested that the use of the only one nutrient medium at the stages of selective cultivation and isolation, and incubation at elevated temperatures can lead to the loss of isolation of fastidious microorganisms that are present in the product in low concentrations. An optimized scheme for the microbiological testing of dry foods for infant nutrition for the presence of the Cronobacter genus bacteria based on a combination of cultural and/or PCR techniques has been proposed.