Growth and survival of foodborne pathogens in meat and meat analogue using traditional microbiology and metagenomic sequencing

Meat and meat analogues play a significant role in meeting global nutritional needs. However, their inherent characteristics create favorable conditions for the transmission of pathogenic bacteria, posing potential risks to public health. This study aimed to simulate real food processing conditions by preparing sterile juices from minced chicken, pig, beef, as well as pea-based and soy-based minced meat. The survival and growth of foodborne pathogens: Escherichia coli HEHA16, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Typhimurium, Cronobacter sakazakii, and a cocktail of these bacteria in these matrices, were tested. Traditional microbiology and next-generation sequencing of those metagenomes were employed to analyze the pathogen variability, abundance and survival after incubation period. Our findings showed that all our meat and meat analogue juices provided favorable conditions for the growth and proliferation of the studied bacteria, with the exception of E. coli HEHA16, that did not survive well in the chicken matrix. On the contrary, meat analogue were potential niches for C. sakazakii and L. monocytogenes survival. These results indicate that plant-based meats could serve as vectors for the transmission of certain foodborne pathogens, using two accurate detection methods, warranting further investigation to better understand and characterise their safety implications.