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Abstract
Chocolate and chocolate products have been implicated in numerous outbreaks of salmonellosis and are susceptible to contamination at multiple stages of processing. The behavior of dehydrated Salmonella spp. in cocoa-based model foods formulated with monostearin, monolaurin, dilaurin, and trilaurin was evaluated at 22C over 168 days. Monolaurin caused a reduction in Salmonella populations; however, the remaining compounds did not affect cell survival. The effect of 0, 25, and 50% added cocoa fat in model foods with aw levels of 0.33 or 0.43 was also determined at 22, 35, and 70C over 24 h to 168 days. A protective effect of cocoa fat on Salmonella spp. was observed at 70C, aw 0.33 and 0.43, but protection was not influenced by fat concentration. Salmonella survival was not affected by added fat at lower temperatures.