SURPRISING things happen to bacteria when they come in from the cold. Take listeria, the bug that strikes fear among cheese makers and kills off trade at the deli counter. A cold spell, followed by a little warmth, and the bacteria not only breed faster, they also grow nastier.
Soft cheeses and pâté's are favourite haunts of listeria, and poor pasteurisation or food storage cause sporadic outbreaks of listeriosis, a particularly dangerous form of food poisoning. Now scientists investigating the behaviour of listeria at the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research at Porton Down in Wiltshire have discovered that most people's strategy for enjoying soft cheeses is risky.
According to Aileen West of CAMR, keeping the cheese in the fridge, then bringing it out to develop its flavour, could be the worst thing you could do.
West and her colleagues grow continuous cultures of Listeria monocytogenes, altering one factor or ...
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