Effect of food additives and irradiation on survival of Salmonella in oysters.

Salmonella typhimurium and S. enteritidis were inoculated into blended oysters, both raw and autoclaved. The oysters were also treated with sodium benzoate (0.1%) or potassium sorbate (0.1%), and irradiated (0.1 Mrad). In both non-irradiated and irradiated samples, greater numbers of Salmonella were recovered after storage at 7 C in the presence of sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate. The results of the autoclaved samples and studies in buffer indicated that this effect was not due to the reduction of competition from the natural flora when the additives were present.