[The behavior of Campylobacter jejuni in various foodstuffs]

For the purpose of ascertaining the survival time of Campylobacter jejuni in foodstuffs under differing conditions, milk, ice-cream, meat salad and drinking water were inoculated with a defined quantity of Campylobacter jejuni and subsequently the number of colony-forming units was determined at first at 12-hour intervals and later once a day. It was found that the survival time in milk at +5 degrees C was 15 days, in drinking water 6 days, but only 7 and 4 days respectively at 22 degrees C. In frozen ice-cream (vanilla) C. j. was still identified after 30 days and longer, in frozen water (-20 degrees C) even after several weeks. In sour meat salad (pH 4.2) the survival time of the inoculated C.j. amounted to a few hours only. The conclusions to be drawn from these results are discussed with reference to the epidemiology of the human diseases caused by C.j. and to kitchen hygiene.