Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin in food of animal origin and staphylococcal food poisoning risk assessment from farm to table

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium, commonly found in the nostrils, on the skin and on the hair of warm-blooded animals, including humans. It can produce a wide variety of virulence factors, including staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). In literature, 24 different SEs and many variants have been identified; among these, only five (the so-called classic enterotoxins) have been well-defined. Due to their emetic activity, SEs are frequently responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning, when consumers ingest contaminated food. SEs are proteins with a high tolerance of denaturing and can maintain their activity, even when the vegetative form of the bacteria is inactivated during food processing. The enterotoxin encoding genes are found in a variety of different genetic elements and, as a result, enterotoxin production varies widely between different populations of S. aureus. SEs production is modulated by multiple, and often overlapping, regulatory pathways, which are influenced by environmental factors. Furthermore, complex food matrices possess many characteristics (storage temperature, pH, sugar or salt concentration, presence of competitive microorganisms, etc.) that have a high impact on S. aureus behaviour. The multiple factors influencing S. aureus growth in food matrices and the production of SE complicates risk assessment procedures. In this review, we focus on enterotoxin production by S. aureus in food of animal origin, its regulation and detection and on the most recent developments in predictive microbiology and risk assessment models.Highlights Staphylococcus aureus produces several virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of several serious human diseases: among these staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) have emetic activity, and are responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP). SEs are proteins that maintain their activity even though the vegetative form of the bacteria is inactivated during food processing. Enterotoxin encoding genes are found in a variety of genetic elements and enterotoxin production varies and is regulated by multiple regulatory pathways, which are influenced by environmental factors.