Aw v salt

[Richard Chivers]

May I ask for some clarification please?

If I have a product, such as cold smoked salmon, to which the only added ingredient is salt (forget the smoke constituents for the purpose of my enquiry).

Is bacterial control effected only by salt extracting water and reducing the Aw or does the presence of salt have its own bactericidal or bacterial control effect e.g by drying out the bacteria themselves, rather than simply making the environment too dry for bacteria to operate?

And if anyone knows of reading material that would cover this, I should be pleased to receive any references so I can read-up to support my understanding.

Many thanks,

Richard

Food Safety Southwest

[Carl Custer]

Yes, aW and the elements have an effect.

Use Google Scholar to look up:

Goepfert, J.M., Iskander, I.K. and Amundson, C.H., 1970. Relation of the heat resistance of salmonellae to the water activity of the environment. Applied microbiology, 19:429-433.

Then start wading through the 235 citations

 

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[Richard Chivers]

Thanks Carl, I shall strap on my waders and swoosh right in!