Heat resistance of an outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes in hot dog batter.

The heat resistance of a strain of Listeria monocytogenes responsible for a listeriosis outbreak in hot dogs was not higher than the heat resistance of other L. monocytogenes strains when tested in tryptic soy broth and in laboratory-prepared hot dog batter. For the thermal death time experiments, the cells were grown to stationary phase or were starved in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7, for 6 h at 30 degrees C. Starvation increased the heat resistance of L. monocytogenes in broth but not in hot dog batter. D-values in hot dog batter were higher than in broth. For the hot dog formulation used in this study, cooking the hot dog batter for 30 s at 71.1 degrees C (160 degrees F), or its equivalent using a z-value of 6 degrees C (11 degrees F), would inactivate 5 logs of L. monocytogenes.