Survival of Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus in "Advocaat".

Egg yolk and advocaat (a liquor consisting of egg yolk, saccharose and spirit; final ethanol concentration 17.2 vol%) were artificially contaminated with Salmonella (5 serotypes), Staphylococcus aureus (3 phage types) and Bacillus cereus (1 strain), Inoculated egg yolk was used to produce advocaat, Within 24 h after inoculation, the number of Salmonella and S. aureus in the laboratory-prepared advocaat and in the commercially-made advocaat decreased 5 log units or more, It was concluded that the killing effect of ethanol on Salmonella and S. aureus in advocaat was equal to pasteurization, Results also suggest that recontamination of advocaat with Salmonella or S. aureus would cause no public health risk. Spores of B. cereus survived in the product for up to 6 months. B. cereus could be isolated from all 20 samples of advocaat of 6 different manufacturers, Serotyping suggested factory-related B. cereus strains.