Food Protection Trends - January/February 2022 - 49

in various dishes, such as omelets, macaroni and cheese, and
spaghetti, and for use as a topping on pizza, a component
of antipasto, or an item on a charcuterie board (7, 23). For
the coal miners of NEPA, soupie was also the handheld and
shelf-stable snack consumed while at work. Soupie is now
available for purchase from commercial processors and a
handful of specialty butcher shops, and several food markets
in NEPA also sell the requisite pork, spice mix, and casings so
that denizens of NEPA can make soupie at home (7, 23). For
these reasons, additional research is warranted to improve
both the wholesomeness (i.e., control pathogens) and quality
of soupie (i.e., extend shelf life, limit sensory defects such as
discoloration, and maintain nutritional attributes).
Like other dry-cured fermented sausage, soupie is not a
primary vehicle of foodborne illness nor is it a food typically
responsible for product recalls. Our review of the available
literature did not identify recalls or outbreaks directly attributed
to soupie contaminated with foodborne pathogens.
However, pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga
toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Salmonella have
been isolated from fermented sausage, and several outbreaks
and recalls have been associated with fermented sausage
attributed to these bacterial pathogens (10-14, 20, 26, 29,
32, 44, 46, 47). In 2009, a nationwide Salmonella Montevideo
outbreak was linked to the (imported) ground red and
black pepper used to coat the incriminated salami products
(12). This outbreak is germane to the present study because
ground pepper is a common ingredient in soupie recipes
(35, 40). Regarding STEC, in 2011, a recall of ca. 23,000 lb
(10,442 kg) of Lebanon bologna, a fermented semidry
sausage, was issued due to contamination with E. coli
O157:H7 (44). This incident resulted in 14 illnesses across
five states; three persons required hospitalization but did
not present with hemolytic uremic syndrome, and no deaths
were reported (13). Regarding L. monocytogenes, in 2019,
ca. 25,000 lb (11,350 kg) of ready-to-eat sausage, such as
sliced sausage for pizza and sliced or chopped pepperoni,
were recalled due to possible adulteration with L. monocytogenes
(47). As another example, a 2020 multistate outbreak
of listeriosis attributed to Italian-style salami, mortadella,
and prosciutto resulted in 12 hospitalizations and one death
(14). Depending on the strains, product formulation and
type, and processing and storage conditions, both STEC and
L. monocytogenes can survive fermentation and/or drying
of various fermented sausage (5, 17, 19, 21, 22, 27, 34). The
persistence of these pathogens in fermented sausage raises
public health concerns because, as previously reported by our
group and other investigators, in general, fermentation alone
delivers only a ≤ 2.0-log reduction of STEC and L. monocytogenes
(21, 22, 30). To deliver the 2.0- or 5.0-log reductions
of STEC, Salmonella, or L. monocytogenes (36, 37, 42, 45)
required for some fermented sausages, evaluations are needed
for (i) ingredients that impart both functionality and antimicrobial
properties, (ii) bacteriocinogenic starter cultures
with antagonism toward regulated pathogens, and/or (iii)
postfermentation interventions (e.g., heat or high pressure
and extended storage under controlled conditions). Given
the absence of survey data quantifying the presence, levels,
or types of regulated pathogens in soupie coupled with the
absence of data on the fate of pathogens that may on occasion
become associated with this hand-crafted soppressata salumi,
studies are needed to allay or correct any perceived or actual
food safety concerns for soupie.
From a public health perspective, soupie has not been associated
with product recalls or human illnesses, most likely
because it is largely produced on a comparatively small scale
within very limited geographic regions of NEPA by consumers
who have little interest in, experience with, or opportunities
for process verification or product surveillance. However,
soupie could harbor pathogenic microbes because (i) it is
commonly made by consumers in the home using locally
sourced (raw) ingredients with only moderate consistency
and limited control over key processing parameters (e.g.,
temperature, air flow, and relative humidity [RH]), (ii) home
fabricators may rely on the indigenous flora to initiate or conduct
the fermentation (i.e., not a commercial starter culture),
and (iii) it is handled extensively and is typically stored for an
extended time period. Therefore, soupie is an excellent model
system, and data related to its safety and quality attributes
can also provide important insights into the wholesomeness
of other comparably produced specialty (fermented) meats.
Both bacterial and parasitic (e.g., Trichinella spiralis) pathogens
can compromise the safety of fermented pork products,
including soppressata and Italian-style salami, when such
products are not properly prepared, handled, or stored (20,
26, 29, 32, 44, 46, 47). Given the absence of scientific data
related to pathogen presence or load or process validation
and that pathogens such as those listed above may be present
and possibly persist in dry-cured salami, for this initial study
we separately monitored the fate of a multistrain cocktail of
gram-positive (L. monocytogenes) and gram-negative (STEC)
bacteria during the preparation of soupie.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Bacterial strains
The following eight-strain cocktail of genetically marked
strains of STEC was used to inoculate raw batter for preparing
soupie: (i) H30 (serotype O26:H11, isolate from an
infant with diarrhea), (ii) JB1-95 (serotype O111:H−, clinical
isolate), (iii) CDC 96-3285 (serotype O45:H2, human stool
isolate), (iv) CDC 90-3128 (serotype O103:H2, human stool
isolate), (v) ATCC BAA-2326 (serotype O104:H4, human
stool isolate), (vi) CDC 97-3068 (serotype O121:H19,
human stool isolate), (vii) 83-75 (serotype O145:NM,
human stool isolate), and (viii) USDA-FSIS 011-82 (serotype
O157:H7, meat isolate). The following five-strain
cocktail of genetically marked strains of L. monocytogenes
also was used to inoculate raw batter for preparing soupie: (i)
January/February Food Protection Trends
49
Food Protection Trends - January/February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January/February 2022
